Where do dietitians work?

They are often focused on patients with health struggles like diabetes or high blood pressure, and they work with them to create a meal plan that will help improve their health and overall quality of life.

Long-term care dietitians are used to maintain a patient's nutrition status. They must help healthy patients continue to eat healthy diets, and they must also build diets from the ground up for patients that are recovering from any trauma or illness. They must be aware of factors that may affect a person's willingness or ability to eat.

As we age, our taste and sense of smell decrease, so older people have a blunted appetite regulation compared to when they were younger. This leads to a decreased sense of appetite, and a long-term care dietitian must be aware of this tendency and be able to maneuver around it to maintain nutrition.

Long-term dietitians are the ones to call if an older loved one seems to be struggling with their nutrition. These dietitians can suggest a medication that may increase appetite, create an eating schedule to help patients remember to eat, or make meal plans that seem more appealing.

They can also discuss prescription changes with doctors and evaluate any nutritional deficiencies. They work very closely with an interdisciplinary team to ensure optimal quality care for all adults.

Local and state public health departments hire dietitians to conduct nutritional evaluations, develop diet plans, and provide community nutrition education through classes and workshops. Opportunities are available to work with low-income groups through government-based food programs.

Dietitians working for local or state government programs will likely be involved in local or state coalitions and task forces that focus on health. These groups collaborate to improve the health of the community and promote policy change in food and nutrition.

Dietitians form partnerships with local school systems, healthcare facilities, and recreational facilities to provide additional community education. Dietitians can also be hired to oversee food service and nutrition programming for schools. These may be for an individual school or oversee all schools within the district.