Toward increased capacity for practice-based research among health professionals: implementing a multisite qualitative research project with dietitians.

Despite repeated efforts to encourage health professionals to conduct practice-based research, including qualitative research, few practitioners have become active researchers. Mentoring, networking, and hands-on experience have been identified as potential approaches for changing this situation. In this article, the authors describe how they implemented a research mentoring/training component in a national study exploring Canadian dietitians' attitudes and practices with regard to obesity and weight management. They discuss the successes and challenges experienced by mentors and trainees, and provide recommendations for future initiatives to enhance capacity for qualitative, practice-based research among health care practitioners.

Canadian dietitians' approaches to counseling adult clients seeking weight-management advice.

This study describes Canadian dietitians' approaches to counseling adults seeking weight-management advice. Fifteen focus groups were conducted at seven sites across Canada. The participants, most of whom worked in clinical or private practice, discussed their approach to specific weight-management counseling scenarios, including women clients with and without associated risk factors (impaired glucose tolerance, hypertension, family history of cardiovascular disease) and long histories of dieting. Results indicate that participants used a lifestyle approach for weight-management counseling, where the main goal was improved client health through healthful eating and increased physical activity. In contrast to clients' perceived weight loss goals, participants rarely included weight loss as a goal for clients with no additional chronic disease risk factors. For clients with risk factors, some participants advocated moderate weight loss, while others aimed for health at any size. Participants also discussed the importance of clients' psychological well-being, particularly in relation to feelings about food and body image. Individualized approaches to setting goals, gathering information, and giving advice/educating were identified as key counseling strategies. Further research to evaluate the effectiveness of dietitians' weight-management approaches and additional counseling training for dietitians will enhance practitioners' skills and confidence in this area.

Masculinity and food ideals of men who live alone.

Most studies of social aspects of foods have focused on people in multi-person households, often from the perspective of women. Little is known about the food-related experiences of men who live alone. We therefore conducted a qualitative study with 12 men aged 27-47 who lived alone in Vancouver, Canada. Our goals were to explore their food-related ideals, and their perceptions of how those ideals relate to their actual food practices, the context of living alone, and masculine identities. Data were collected through food journals and semi-structured interviews. The men's ideals included being conscious and organized with respect to food so that they could regularly eat meals prepared at home from healthy ingredients. Eating with others was considered an ideal food context, where the meal became an "occasion", as opposed to "just eating". Participants believed that their eating habits often did not live up to these ideals because of lack of time and because the context of living alone was not conducive to eating well. However, they thought their habits were better than what they perceived to be the habits of a stereotypical bachelor who does not know how to cook and has a 'who cares' attitude towards food.