Clinical Nutrition – evidence-based practice (edX)

The importance of nutrition on global health is demonstrated in the Sustainable Development Goals for 2030 as set by the United Nations General Assembly, as nutrition is considered a cornerstone for 12 out of 17 of these goals. Nutrition has a positive effect on health as well as on economic growth.

Clinical nutrition described as the basic interdisciplinary and applied science that deals with the prevention, diagnosis and management of nutritional and metabolic changes related to acute and chronic diseases for both patients in healthcare institutions or those who receive care periodically as outpatients, is an old concept but the importance is hardly recognized.

Aiming to emphasize the importance of clinical nutrition, this course equips you with evidence-based insights and practical know-how on nutrition-related solutions. By providing you with this information, the course broadens your conceptual knowledge towards the context & background-independent application of nutrition-related issues due to chronic and infectious disorders.

Our evidence-based practice approach will allow you as a decision-maker to identify the relevant evidence for practice while taking into account the sociocultural background and wishes of a patient. This evidence-based practice approach will eliminate the ‘trial & error’ approach in favor of better health outcomes and originates from North and South countries.

This course is taught by instructors with decades of experience in clinical nutrition, dietetics, endocrinology, and gastroenterology. The instructors are teachers/lecturers and researchers in these fields at universities in Europe (KU Leuven, Department of Chronic Diseases and Metabolism) and in Africa (Stellenbosh University, Division of Human Nutrition; University of Ghana, Department of Nutrition and Dietetics; University of Rwanda, School of Public Health, and University of Zimbabwe, Institute of Food and Nutrition) which is the uniqueness of this course.

By being able to apply the evidence-based practice of clinical nutrition in different situations you will be able to function as a linking pin between research and practice with experience from North & South countries. Such profiles align strongly with the future outlook of nutrition-related needs as reported by organizations like the World Food Programme, World Health Organization, United Nations Children's Fund, and International Committee of the Red Cross.

What you'll learn

- Acquire basic knowledge of clinical nutrition:

- the treatment of obesity.

- the treatment of diabetes

- the treatment of malnutrition

- the treatment of gastrointestinal diseases

- the treatment of infectious diseases, more specifically HIV

- Translate scientific evidence into practice.

- Acquire practical experience from both North & South Countries

- Use nutrition as a treatment strategy.

- Apply nutrition strategies in treating specific disorders.

- Decontextualize concepts over different contexts.

Syllabus

Week 0: Getting the feel for it

Welcome and how to use a MOOC, gain familiarity with course setup, its workload, our and yours expectations, the presentation of the course team, and some guidelines and honor codes.

Week 1: Introduction

Introduction to the scientific approach of clinical nutrition and its basic concepts, followed by an introduction to the quest for the development of practical guidelines.

Week 2: Obesity

The basic concepts of obesity, its consequences, management, and how obesity is treated from different geographical and socio-cultural backgrounds.

Week 3: Diabetes

The basic concepts of diabetes, its consequences, management, and how to treat diabetes from different geographical and socio-cultural backgrounds.

Week 4: Malnutrition and specific pathology

The basic concepts of malnutrition, and what clinical nutrition there exists to address malnutrition

Week 5: Gastrointestinal diseases

Food allergies, intolerances and the role of nutrition in functional gastrointestinal disorders and gluten-related pathologies.

Week 6: Infections and nutritional requirements

The role and impact of HIV on nutritional needs and how to treat infections from a nutritional point of view.

Week 7: Integrated evaluation

Case studies are proposed with a combination of different pathologies in different settings.