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Nutrition & dietetics : the journal of the Dietitians Association of Australia
09, 2023;80 (4): 351-361.

Informing online professional dietetics practice: The development and pilot testing of the Social Media Evaluation Checklist.

Kelly Squires, Alisha Brighton, Lisa Urquhart, Lucy Kocanda, Susan Heaney
Author Information
  1. Kelly Squires: School of Health Sciences, University of Newcastle, Callaghan, Australia. ORCID
  2. Alisha Brighton: Hunter New England Local Health District, New Lambton, Australia.
  3. Lisa Urquhart: Department of Rural Health, University of Newcastle, Callaghan, Australia.
  4. Lucy Kocanda: Department of Rural Health, University of Newcastle, Callaghan, Australia.
  5. Susan Heaney: Department of Rural Health, University of Newcastle, Callaghan, Australia.
PMID: 36631069 DOI: 10.1111/1747-0080.12794

Abstract

AIM: To develop and pilot a tool to evaluate Australian dietitians' and student dietitians' ethical and professional practice using social media.
METHODS: A Social Media Evaluation Checklist was developed based on checklist development literature with a four-staged process. Stage one included a literature review and input from an expert panel to ensure content validity. Stages two and three were to ensure face validity by categorising the checklist and pilot testing the tool. Instagram profiles and posts were audited by two authors using the checklist in the final stage to analyse ethical and professional use. An account purposely created for this study was used, and the first 25 dietitian and first 25 student dietitian profiles identified using the key words 'dietitian', 'student dietitian' and 'dietitian student' and the hashtag '#australiandietitian' were reviewed.
RESULTS: A total of 50 Instagram profiles and 250 posts were audited based on seven categories; (1) financial disclosure, (2) cultural awareness, (3) evidence-based information, (4) transparency, (5) privacy/confidentiality, (6) professionalism and (7) justifiability. Areas for improvement included advertising transparency which was met in only 12% of dietitian posts, and the provision of evidence-based information, which was met in 56% of dietitian posts and 72% of student dietitian posts.
CONCLUSIONS: This study provides insight into the ethical and professional use of social media by Australian dietitians and dietetics students. With the evolving nature of social media, guidance is required. This will ensure dietitians remain, now and in the future, the credible source of nutrition information for the public.

Keywords

checklist dietetics evidence-based practice professionalism social media

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MeSH Term

Humans
Dietetics
Checklist
Social Media
Australia
Nutritional Status
Review Journal Article
Article has an altmetric score of 6

Word Cloud

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