REVIEW OF THE DIETCIANS ASSOCIATION OF AUSTRALIA By Jennie Carrington The DAA is an expansive peak body comprised of nutrition professionals and dieticians Australia-wide. As the National Association of the Dietetic profession, the DAA has branches in each state and territory, and states its mission is to provide ‘… strategic leadership in food and nutrition through empowerment, advocacy, education, accreditation and communication”. Its role is to represent its strong membership of more than 5,500 health professionals and provide a platform for them to educate and provide better food, better health and wellbeing for all Australians. How they do this The DAA is accessible to professionals, the media, and the general public. You can directly be guided towards practical and personal nutrition advice by searching their data base of Accredited Practicing Dieticians ( APD) . You can also access up to date nutrition information via their links to ‘ Smart Eating For You.’ For APDs, they have access to DAA submissions and projects, DAA endorsed practice guidelines and recommendations. Nutrition professionals also have access to DAA programs, publications, the DAA Journal and other resources. The DAA media centre regulates the control of nutritional and dietary information that is released by the DAA , based on science and knowledge, with practical advice, delivered in user-friendly ways. How the DAA can benefit me and my clients Medicare rebates for certain allied health services are available, including chronic conditions and people with complex care needs as referred by their GPs. Medicare rebates are also available for people with type 2 diabetes. Most APDs have medicare provider status. The DAA can be useful to me as a professional when needing to look for scientific based nutrition advice for individuals with specific needs, and be able to refer onto accredited dieticians for clients with more complex nutritional needs. The ‘Smart Eating For You’ program provides nutritional information as well as nutrition tips and recipes that are a good starting point for many people with poor nutrition habits. The recipes are simple and quick and are consistent with current dietary guidelines for Australians. daa.asn.au
Posted on: Wed, 22 Oct 2014 05:13:04 +0000