How to Make Nutrition Education More Meaningful Through Facilitated Group Discussions

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Abstract

Facilitated group discussions provide an alternative method to lecture and one-on-one approaches for conducting educational interventions at clinic sites. They are an interactive form of education wherein learners generate the specific topics to be addressed and share their knowledge and experience with other group members through discussion. In brief, the educator becomes a facilitator who, rather than lecturing, encourages clients to discuss freely among themselves their own approach to the nutrition problems posed during the session. As a facilitator, the nutritionist strives to create a comfortable atmosphere for discussion, encourages participation, and interjects only to correct misinformation and manage group dynamics. Facilitated group discussions allow nutrition practitioners to deliver meaningful nutrition education in a manner that helps empower their clients to improve their dietary habits; at the same time such discussions meet the increased public administrative demands for efficiency. Possible benefits to clients include more confidence, better communication skills, improved thinking skills, and increased motivation and commitment to improving nutrition behavior. We recommend that nutrition educators try facilitated group discussions in their clinics. J Am Diet Assoc. 1999;99:72-76.

Section snippets

Challenges of Nutrition Education

Educating the general public about nutrition is challenging for several reasons. First, because every client has a vast amount of unique experience and knowledge about food and nutrition, nutrition educators have to contend with a large, complex framework of information meaningful to the client. This information, however, is often fraught with misconceptions and gaps in knowledge. Second, dietary behavior is complex. A person's dietary intake for any given day is the cumulative result of

Philosophical Approaches to Community Practice

The process of enhancing people's quality of life, improving their health, and encouraging them to make their own choices and decisions involves complex power relations between professionals and their clients (3). Schalock (4) postulated that quality of life increases as people are more capable of making decisions that affect their lives. Thus, to promote the health of clients dietetics professionals need to develop their sense of control and confidence (both essential components of

Conducting Facilitated Group Discussions

Facilitated group discussions are a client-centered, interactive form of education wherein learners share their problems, knowledge, and experience with other group members through discussion (1). Nutrition topics discussed are similar to those addressed in conventional nutrition education lectures. The basis for the technique of facilitated group discussions, however, is that the educator (who becomes the group facilitator), rather than lecturing, encourages clients to discuss freely among

The Facilitator's Role

The facilitator's actions make or break the group discussion. The word facilitate is the Latin derivative of “to enable, to make easy” (11), which is clearly the goal in a facilitated group discussion. Kaneretal (15) stated that the facilitator's job is “to support everyone to do their best thinking. To do this, the facilitator encourages full participation, promotes mutual understanding and cultivates shared responsibility” (p 32, original emphasis).

An important part of a facilitator's role is

Evaluation of Facilitated Group Discussions

It is imperative to evaluate the effectiveness of facilitated group discussions. In fields other than nutrition, group discussions have been shown to be more effective than the traditional lecture or one-on-one approaches (2), (18), (23), (24) used in classroom and community settings. In 1996, a research study was conducted to evaluate the use of facilitated group discussions in New Mexico WIC clinics (25). Qualitatively, when the lecture approach was compared with the facilitated-type

Applications

Public health nutrition programs, such as WIC, are constantly being challenged to operate at higher levels of technical competence and efficiency (27). Given limited financial resources and rising numbers of clients, it has become critical for program administrators to deliver meaningful, high-quality nutrition education coupled with cost-effective use of resources (27). Facilitated group discussions offer WIC participants the chance to take an active role in the learning process and to share

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