Public health nutrition workforce composition, core functions, competencies and capacity: perspectives of advanced-level practitioners in Australia.

OBJECTIVES To investigate the attitudes, experiences and beliefs of advanced-level public health nutritionists with respect to public health nutrition workforce composition, core functions, competency requirements and existing workforce capacity. DESIGN Qualitative study using structured interviews. SETTING Australia. SUBJECTS Forty-one advanced-level public health nutritionists employed in academic and senior technocratic positions in state health systems. RESULTS Advanced-level public health nutritionists recognise the diversity of the public health nutrition workforce but clearly identify the need for a specialist public health nutrition workforce tier to provide workforce leadership. Nominated core functions for public health nutrition reflect broader public health core functions but, in the context of nutrition, specific problem resolution. Opinions about competency needs were similar to many of the cross-cutting competencies identified in the public health field but with specific application to nutrition problems. Competency in the scientific underpinning of nutrition was considered particularly important and delineated this public health nutrition workforce from the broader public health workforce. Public health nutrition was identified as a specialisation within public health and dietetics. Workforce capacity assessments by this group indicate a need for workforce development. CONCLUSIONS Qualitative data from a large proportion of the Australian public health nutrition leadership group have identified core functions, competencies and workforce development priorities that can be a basis for further systematic research and workforce strategy development.