Application of community-based nutrition education needs assessment in reviewing the course plan of medical and nursing students

Training needs assessment is the process of recognizing educational needs. This study aimed to apply a community-based nutrition education needs assessment to revise the nutrition course plan in the curriculum of the doctorate of medicine and that of the baccalaureate of nursing.

The study was designed in 2 phases: (1) nutritional needs assessment; (2) community-based revision of nutrition course plan. In the first phase, 13 nutrition professionals working in the region set out 5 priorities of nutrition-related health problems in the community by a training need assessment based on a survey and scoring system. Then, an expert panel determined the priorities of behavioral and nonbehavioral causes of the nutrition-related health problems by the nominal group technique (NGT). The results of the first phase were used to review the topics of nutrition course plans up to 20%.

The priorities identified in Abadan, Khorramshahr, and Shadegan were obesity and type 2 diabetes mellitus in adults as well as anemia in pregnant women, respectively. Also, wrong eating habits and insufficient nutrition knowledge were among the most important behavioral causes of nutrition-related health problems in the target community. These results were applied to a community-based review of nutrition course plans for medical and nursing students.

The use of nutritional needs assessment approaches by a survey and nominal group technique with a group of professionals provided an opportunity for a community-based review of the nutrition course plan for medical and nursing students as a first phase in the development of a community-based nutrition course plane.