By: JM Nutrition Team of dietitians and nutritionists
How to choose a dietitian and nutritionist that is right for you and your specific health and nutrition needs?
Our team is here to provide a comprehensive outline of criteria that can be used to help you select the practitioner that is best suited to you.
Let’s take a look.
Choose a dietitian and nutritionist based on these criteria:
Check the credentials
Before booking an appointment with a dietitian and nutritionist, it’s important to check the credentials of the practitioner. Doing so will help make sure they are licensed and registered with a dietitian’s college to practice in the given province or territory. You can easily verify this information yourself by going online and checking with the given provincial dietitian’s college. You can also contact the regulatory body directly for this information.
Consider experience
The next step in choosing the right dietitian and nutritionist involves determining what sort of experience the practitioner has providing nutritional counselling to clients or patients on a one-on-one basis. Some have worked with clients one-on-one for many years. Others may not have this sort of experience.
Experience is indeed a great teacher. As such, don’t overlook it. Typically, though not exclusively, dietitians and nutritionists who possess years of experience have developed and refined their knowledge and skills over time. As a result, they know what works in a given scenario and what doesn’t.
Experience in providing one-on-one nutritional counselling also allows the practitioner to develop various soft skills such as effective communication skills, empathy and how to approach each case on an individualized basis. These factors are no doubt important to those receiving counsel.
Examine the areas of expertise
No how to choose a dietitian and nutritionist list would be complete without an examination of the practitioner’s expertise. Undoubtedly, it’s critically important to make sure the dietitian and nutritionist with whom you’re considering working has expertise in the health and nutrition area for which you are seeking help.
Not all practitioners possess deep knowledge in every area of dietetics. While they may have general knowledge about the health concern or condition, they may not be able to provide much more than rudimentary support.
On the other hand, there are nutritional counsellors who tend to possess areas of focus, devoting the bulk of their practice to one or more specific niches. For example, one dietitian may focus on weight loss counselling, while another provides session to help manage chronic disease. Another dietitian may have expertise in digestive health support, while another still may focus on pediatric nutrition.
Ask for referrals
To help select the dietitian, consider asking for referrals. You can seek a referral for dietitian services from a medical doctor such as your family doctor. Chances are these medical professionals referred their previous patients to a nutritional counselling service, so they may be in a good position to know reputable nutrition professionals. In addition, some doctors form partnerships and referral networks with other regulated health professionals. As such, they may already have someone in mind who can help you with your health concerns.
Get personal recommendations
This is another great way to help you choose the dietitian and nutritionist. Personal recommendations by friends, family, co-workers or other health professionals can be very helpful because you may be able to obtain more specific information about the practitioner from people who have actually already worked with them.
Read reviews
Another way that can help you choose the right dietitian and nutritionist is client reviews. Many clients leave feedback about their experience about private-practice dietitians. Check to see if there are positive testimonials about the dietitian with whom you’re considering working on various online platforms.
Peruse directories
Another good way to find a dietitian and nutritionist who suits your specific health and nutrition needs is to visit various directories where dietitian services are listed. Frequently, these online business directories list practitioner information. This includes their credentials, background information, services they provide, areas they service and much more. This is a good way to learn more about the given practitioner. Consequently, this can help you decide with which dietitian and nutritionist to work.
Visit the practitioner website
To learn more information about each dietitian visit their website to learn about the dietitian’s experience, services they offer, areas of service, office location and more. Similar information can also be obtained from the Google Business Profiles or AI Overviews.
Scan through social media
When selecting a practitioner, you can also visit the profiles of registered dietitians and nutritionists on social media (if applicable) such as Linkedin, Facebook, Instagram and others. Here you can gain more information about the dietitian’s approach, the services they offer, their location and much more. While social media profiles often only provide a cursory look at the practitioner, some profiles may reveal more information. In fact, some social media profiles of some dietitians include short videos, which can very helpful in the selection process.
Conduct a free consultation or discovery call
If applicable, consider a free consultation with the dietitian. During this time you can learn more about their approach, their services, fees and much more. Free consultations can be used not only to discover more about the practitioner, but also about other pertinent information such as insurance coverage, fees, billing and much more. For some, these could be dealbreakers.
Assess the approach
If you want to decide with which dietitian and nutritionist to work, you simply cannot overlook the approach used by the practitioner. Assess the approach and philosophy of the dietitian to ensure it meets your exact needs. Some may and some may not.
Does the approach to nutritional counselling work for you and your personality or learning style? If you have strong doubts, perhaps you should consider other options. If you feel the dietitian’s approach may mesh quite well to how you like things done, then perhaps you’re ready to book an appointment. At times, this factor is the most critical one.
Check for insurance coverage
This is another dealbreaker for many people who are looking to choose a dietitian to help them with a health goal. As a result, it’s important to find out if the services of the dietitian are covered under the extended healthcare benefits that you have. If you’re not sure about your coverage, contact your insurance provider first and obtain information about your coverage. At JM Nutrition, we provide more information about what to ask your insurance provider here.
Consider in-person office appointment or virtual
This is another important consideration, when selecting a dietitian and nutritionist. Find out if the dietitian offers in-person appointments and/or virtual services to ensure it meets your needs. While many people are impartial and open to receiving nutritional counselling either way, there are those who only desire virtual appointments. Similarly, there are others who only consider in-person sessions. Choose wisely to ensure you receive the best care possible.
Conclusion
We hope that this list of criteria is useful and answered the question of how to choose a dietitian and nutritionist that is just right for you and your individualized health concern. If you feel we missed some important criteria, please let us know.
About Authors
JM Nutrition is a nutritional counselling service by nutritionists and dietitians across Canada, servicing every province and territory.
Primary offices: JM Nutrition Toronto, JM Nutrition Ottawa, JM Nutrition Halifax, JM Nutrition Vancouver
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