Core Competencies For The Public Health Nutrition Workforce : Results Of A European Union Delphi Study

Competency standards codify the knowledge, skills and attitudes required to effectively practice. They are recognised as the architecture for workforce development as they inform curriculum design, assessment and continuing education. This study assessed and developed consensus amongst a European panel of public health nutrition stakeholders as part of the European Union funded JobNut project. A modified Delphi study involving 3 rounds of questionnaires was conducted amongst a panel of 52 public health nutrition stakeholders, including academics, practitioners and employers from 20 European countries. The cut-off point to define consensus amongst stakeholders was set at 66.7% agreement. Panellists rated the importance of 57 competency units in relevance to the competency mix required of an individual practitioner to effectively address PHN issues. 29 of 57 competency units (50.9%) met the consensus criteria at the second round of the Delphi survey and were defined as core public health nutrition competencies. The highest agreement amongst panellists was on competencies clustered within the Nutrition science, Professional, Analytical and Public health service delivery headings. This consensus data provides the basis for curriculum design and re-development, continuing education and workforce quality assurance systems. These are all important tools for systematic and strategic workforce development