Cross-profession Coordination in Targeting Diet as a Common Risk Factor

Objectives: Unhealthy diet is a common risk factor threatening both dental and general health. Despite some shared goals, conflicting dietary advice persists among different healthcare professions, causing mystification to patients and the general public. This qualitative study aimed to gather the views of three different health professions (physicians, dentists and dietitians) in the importance of targeting diet as a common risk factor, their experiences and barriers in addressing conflicting health messages on diet, and their recommendations for better cross-profession coordination. Methods:  A total of 38 registered physicians, dentists, and dietitians were recruited from different service sectors. Each participant joined a semi-structured interview, which was audio-recorded with participant’s consent, transcribed verbatim, and subjected to thematic content analysis using line-by-line coding. Results:  Participants endorsed the importance of the common risk factor approach and suggested several means to improve cross-profession cooperation, including maximizing the potential of multi-disciplinary care, actively engaging auxiliary and allied healthcare professionals, refining electronic patient record systems, and incorporating cutting-edge communication technologies. Inconsistencies in dietary advice were mainly attributed to different treatment focus, lack of mutual understanding, and lack of evidence based and well followed guidelines. To reduce such inconsistencies, practitioners were suggested to strike a balance for the best interest of individual patient, compensate by using other preventive measures, to inform patients and respect patients’ autonomy, acquire cross-profession knowledge, and conform to evidence-based guidelines. Several recommendations were made for educational institutions, professional bodies, and health administrators to align their efforts for facilitating common risk factor approach and eliminating the inconsistencies. Conclusion: Views collected from three healthcare professions supported that common risk factor approach is important in preventing/managing diet-related health problems and can be realized through better cross-profession coordination. Measures are to be taken to dispel conflicting health messages and promote coherent and comprehensive dietary advice in patients’ best interest.