Feeding & Nutrition in Infants and Children
Project Leader: Dr. Moira Stewart
Feeding and nutrition in infancy and early childhood are seen as priority subject areas for students from a variety of disciplines. The management of feeding problems often involves co-ordinated care from a number of professionals with different and complementary knowledge and skills.
In 2006-07, an interprofessional teaching and learning workshop was introduced to the curriculum for paedriatric medical and children's nursing students. The workshop included opportunities to develop the core knowledge and skills required by both professionals including team working and communication, awareness of the roles of other profesionals and development of presentation skills. A Student Study Guide has been developed and is available online. This includes basic information on feeding and nutrition in infants and young children and a series of case studies.
The programme evaluation was conducted using post-workshop questionnaires and responses were largely positive. Most students found the Study Guide to be useful and to include relevant sources of information and references.
They reported benefits such as being more aware of one another’s roles, and development of the knowledge and skills they would need to manage feeding problems in children. The main barrier identified was scheduling time to work together in preparing the presentations.
‘The scenario-based case studies were useful for applying theory into practice. Also, the subject chosen is obviously a major issue in caring for children, therefore, a relevant subject’
Nursing Student
‘Neither of us is aware of one another’s knowledge’
Medical student
Students conducting blind tasting
Resources
Teaching
Feeding and Nutrition in Infants and Children: Student Resource Pack (PDF, 4.9MB)
Publications
Purdy, J. & Stewart, M. (2009) 'Feeding and Nutrition in Infants and Children: An Interproffessional Approach'. The Clinical Teacher, vol. 6, no. 3.
