The Aged Care Sector for Dietitians

Evergreen course



The Centre for Advanced Learning (CAL) is excited to bring you the Aged Care Sector for Dietitians Evergreen course. 

Audience: Dietitians with 1-3 years of experience in practice. This course can also be useful as a refresher if you are returning to practice in this area. 

Course learning outcomes: 

  • Provide an overview of the aged care sector across the continuum of care
  • Discuss the challenges and solutions in a range of settings, including rural and remote settings
  • Provide an understanding of the high prevalence nutrition risks in aged care, both residential and community
  • Provide an overview of the residential aged care sector, the regulatory system, funding models and the organisational structure of services
  • Provide an overview of an Accredited Practising Dietitian's (APD's) role when providing care to older people living independently in their own home
  • Understand the limitations of the current aged care system and opportunities for advocacy at the grass roots level

Access to the course: New registrants will be uploaded to the Learning Management System (LMS) within one week of registering online. Once you have been uploaded to the LMS, you will have ongoing access for 12 months to the course and associated materials. 

CPD hours: This course is worth 30 CPD hours collectively. You will need to manually enter your CPD hours for this course. 

Certificates: Upon completing of the course, you will be able to download your certificate from the Learning Management System.

Course content

This Evergreen course consists of 6 unique modules. We have redesigned our course structure to provide you more flexibility in your registration options. 

For this course, you can choose to register for the whole course at once, OR you can choose to register for the individual module(s) that are relevant to you. 

Each module is outlined in detail below. 

Module 1: The Australian aged care system and how it works

This module is individually worth 5 CPD hours.

Module 1 learning outcomes:

  • Explain what aged care is, the different settings, types of services and funding models across Australia
  • Understand the eligibility and assessment process for aged care services
  • Understand the quality, regulations, and compliance requirements in aged care

Module 2: The Australian aged care system for Accredited Practising Dietitians (APDs)

This module is individually worth 5 CPD hours.

Module 2 learning outcomes:

  • Understand the different aged care settings and funding systems for APDs across the continuum of aged care
  • Identify different types of nutrition services and how they are funded in a range of aged care environments
  • Explain the challenges of food systems supporting CALD communities, including First Nations peoples

Module 3: Nutritional requirements, identification and management of risks across the continuum of care

This module is individually worth 5 CPD hours.

Module 3 learning outcomes:

  • Explain the high prevalence risks that are associated with food and nutrition
  • How to identify an aged care client who is at nutritional risk across all settings
  • Explain the principles of the dietary management of malnutrition, dysphagia and IDDSI, wound care, diabetes and obesity, allergies and intolerances, dementia and end of life care
  • Describe a food first approach and the role of oral nutrition supplements

Module 4: The residential aged care setting

This module is individually worth 5 CPD hours.

Module 4 learning outcomes:

  • Explain the Aged Care Quality Standards and how they relate to nutrition care in residential aged care
  • List the current and future National Aged Care Mandatory Quality Indicators
  • Understand the major challenges when catering for residents in aged care
  • Understand the barriers to meeting nutrition targets in residential aged care
  • Build confidence to conduct a Menu and Mealtime Assessment
  • Understand the principles of a food first approach and the use of commercial supplements

Module 5: Community - at home care

This module is individually worth 5 CPD hours.

Module 5 learning outcomes:

  • Explain the different types of care at home services
  • Apply and understand the terms and principles of 'wellness and reablement', 'restorative care' and 'consumer directed care'
  • Understand the quality requirements for at home care
  • Understand the difference between formal and informal carers and their role in supporting nutrition care 
  • Understand the impact of socioeconomic burden and functional decline on nutrition status
  • Identify the aged care team for the older person and other services in the community to support the nutritional needs of the older person

Module 6: Real life challenges - a recorded webinar

This module is individually worth 5 CPD hours.

Module 6 learning outcomes:

  • Describe the nutrition considerations throughout the continuum of care
  • Understand the barriers and strategies to enable consumers to meet their nutrient goals
  • Identify who the decision makers are when considering nutrition and food service in the community and aged care settings

Course pricing

$125

(incl. GST)

$175 for non-Dietitians Australia members

INDIVIDUAL MODULE(S)

     Choose only the module(s) that apply to your practice.          

$480

(incl. GST)

$675 for non-Dietitians Australia members

FULL COURSE PACKAGE

Receive a 36% discount for purchasing all modules in this course.

For information about group registration discounts, please contact education@dietitiansaustralia.org.au.

Meet the educators

Julie Dundon

Julie Dundon is an Advanced Accredited Practicing Dietitian (AdvAPD) and Director of Nutrition Professionals Australia. She has partnered many organisations to find the right nutrition solutions in a range of settings across Australia. Julie's experience as Food Services Manager across several sites, Residential Site Manager and Consultant Dietitian has provided her with valuable insight into the daily challenges of the aged care sector. She is a leader in the dietetics profession, with 10 years on the board of Dietitians Australia (formerly Dietitians Association of Australia) which included 4 years as President. Julie is currently the Subject Matter Lead (Aged Care) and author of the Menu and Mealtime Quality Assessment for Residential Aged Care, and for The Aged Care Sector for Dietitians CAL course. 

Anne Schneyder

Anne Schneyder is and AdvAPD and Director of Nutrition Professionals Australia, who has been an ardent advocate for change to improve the profile of food and nutrition in the aged care sector for the past 25 years. She has contributed to the development of manuals to guide dietitian practice and also wrote the original Dietitians Association of Australia (DAA) Menu Audit tool for dietitians, which provides a definitive guide to conducting a menu audit. Anne believes that both good food AND good nutrition contribute to optimal health and well being. Anne also believes that an integrated approach that involves the consumer as the focus together with both care and food services staff is essential in any organisation to provide a quality meal service. 

Sharon Lawrence

Sharon Lawrence is an APD with over 25 years experience advocating for improved nutrition in aged care in the home and community care environment. She has worked as a Commonwealth Home Support Dietitian for 13 years and was the Dietitians Australia representative on National Aged Care Alliance for 8 years. She has represented Dietitians Australia on the Commonwealth Home Support Program Meal Review Committee, the redesign of the certificate IV in Ageing Support, and many My Aged Care co-design workshops. She was a member of the steering committee overseeing the development of National Meal Guidelines and, most recently, represented Dietitians Australia as a witness at the Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety. Sharon is an independent board member of NSW Meals on Wheels Association and an active member of the NSW Agency for Clinical Innovation Nutrition and Frailty Working Group. 

Frequently asked questions

Who is this course for? 

Dietitians with 1-3 years' experience in practice. 

This course can be useful for new graduate dietitians, or for more experienced dietitians who are new to this area or would like a refresher before returning to practice within this area after some time away. 

How long will I have access to the course? 

Once you have been uploaded onto the Learning Management System (LMS), you will have on-going access for 12 months to the course and associated materials. 

Do I need to complete the course in any order?

This course is self-paced, which means you can do as little or as much as you like at any given time. It is recommended that you start at the first module and then progress through to the last, as each module will build on knowledge from the previous modules. 

How do I access the course?

Once you have registered for the course it takes up to a week to be uploaded to the Learning Management System (LMS). If you have previously enrolled in a CAL course, you can locate this course under the 'My Courses' tab once you have logged into the LMS. If you are a new user, you will receive an automated email from the LMS informing you of your enrolment and password within a week of registering. This automated email will go to the same email address that you registered to the course with. Be sure to check your junk inbox if you have not received it.

Was this course peer-reviewed?

Yes, this course was peer-reviewed in 2022. This course is scheduled for review in 2025.  

How long will it take me to complete the course? 

Since this course is self-paced, the number of hours will vary from participant to participant, however it is expected that this course in its entirety will take approximately 30 hours to complete. You will need to manually upload your CPD hours for this course. 

What are the course requirements?

To receive your Professional Certificate, you will need to view all course materials and then successfully complete the assessment item. Don't worry, you will have unlimited attempts!

Contact

The Education Centre team

E: education@dietitiansaustralia.org.au

P: 02 6189 1202

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