Dietitians 2020: Analyses of the dietetic workforce in Germany

Peer-reviewed / Manuscript (original) submitted: 24 June 2020 / Revision accepted: 11 September 2020

Implications for the revision of the German Dietitian Law

Background

Dietitians are the only legally regulated health profession in the field of nutrition therapy and preventative nutritional medicine in Germany. According to the training objective set out in Section 3 of the German Dietitian Law (Gesetz über den Beruf der Diätassistentin und des Diätassistenten— DiatAssG), completion of training as a dietitian qualifies the person to carry out nutrition therapy and measures of nutritional medicine under their own responsibility and to participate in the prevention and treatment of diseases [1].

This legal regulation of the profession in a federal law is significant because as a result, the state can, in addition to ensuring patient and consumer protection, also influence the content of the training (e.g. by defining the training objective and ensuring uniform training and examination regulations) and anchor the profession in the healthcare system (e.g. by restricting who can perform treatment). This makes it possible to respond to a changing spectrum of diseases, to the increasing complexity of diseases and their treatments, and to meet the resulting increased demands on dietitians as a professional group [2]. The structural changes occurring in hospital care (including changes funding models and numbers of beds), the reduction in the length of inpatient stays and the shift of therapy services from the inpatient to the outpatient sector [3, 4] all have an impact on the activities of dietitians as a professional group [2].

Abstract

The German Dietitian Law (Gesetz über den Beruf der Diätassistentin und des Diätassistenten—DiatAssG 1994) is designed to ensure that the state can influence the education of dietitians in order to guarantee that patients are protected. It also ensures that the profession can be adapted to meet increasing demands, such as the increasing complexity of diseases and structural changes in the healthcare sector.
This online, cross-sectional survey, which follows on from the 2010 analyses of the dietetic workforce in Germany, recorded professional fields, type and scope of activities, further and education and training, academic qualifications, job satisfaction and demographic data. In February 2020, an online survey was conducted using a questionnaire prepared by a group of experts. There were 1,256 dietitians who responded.
According to the results, dietitians’ work mainly focuses on activities that involve patient contact. Compared to the data from 2010, the percentage of those working in nutrition therapy increased, whereas fewer dietitians are now working in catering management. At the same time, activities associated with instruction, control and monitoring functions increased, and nutrition- related measures for disease prevention and health promotion have become an important area of activity. One fifth of the respondents have a bachelor’s degree or are on the way to obtaining one.
The survey results indicate that there is a need for a reform of the German Dietitian Law and they support the rationality of the VDD’s call for a new professional title for dietitians in Germany and full academization of the profession.

Keywords: dietitian, dietetics, nutrition therapy, nutrition intervention, profession, VDD Analyses of the Dietetic Workforce in Germany 2020

Full text PDF (free version) + Supplement