Trends, challenges, opportunities, and future needs of the dietetic workforce: a systematic scoping review.

CONTEXT Issues related to nutrition and health are prominent, yet it is unclear if the dietetics workforce is being used optimally. OBJECTIVE Trends, challenges, opportunities, and future needs of the international dietetic workforce are investigated in this review, which was registered with Open Science Framework (10.17605/OSF.IO/DXNWE). DATA SOURCES Eight academic and 5 grey-literature databases and the Google search engine were searched from 2010 onward according to Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses Extension for Scoping Reviews (PRISMA-ScR) guidelines. Of 2050 articles screened, 184 were eligible for inclusion. DATA EXTRACTION To chart data, a directed content analysis and a constant comparison technique were used. DATA ANALYSIS The following 13 themes were identified: 1) emerging or expanding areas of practice; 2) skill development; 3) economic considerations; 4) nutrition informatics; 5) diversity within the workforce; 6) specific areas of practice; 7) further education; 8) intrapersonal factors; 9) perceptions of the profession; 10) protecting the scope of practice; 11) support systems; 12) employment outcomes; and 13) registration or credentialing. CONCLUSIONS The dietetics profession is aware of the need to expand into diverse areas of employment. Comprehensive workforce data are necessary to facilitate workforce planning.