PEN® eNews 15(2) February 2025 - Cultural Humility and Nutrition Month!
PEN
® eNews is a monthly e-newsletter shared with the global PEN Community and created to help dietitians position themselves as leaders in evidence-based nutrition practice. In addition, users of the PEN System will find articles on the new evidence, resources and features available and how to maximize one's use of PEN.
New Background Document on Cultural Humility
We've used our Knowledge Co-Creation process to develop a Background document on a new-to-PEN topic: Cultural Humility.
What is Cultural Humility?
Cultural humility is similar to cultural safety but provides a more comprehensive approach to understanding the self in relation to power, privilege and the intersectional nature of identities. Cultural humility encourages healthcare practitioners to better understand themselves in relation to their clients, while also respecting others’ worldviews, beliefs and lived experiences.
How Do I Apply Cultural Humility To My Practice?
Dietitians can play a crucial role in dismantling the power structures that perpetuate and exacerbate health disparities. Learning about and reflecting on internalized biases, assumptions and prejudices; creating inclusive, welcoming and equitable environments; ensuring culturally responsive care and counselling; and participating in ongoing advocacy and education are strategies that dietitians can use to address systemic barriers to healthcare, enact positive change and promote health.
For more information on Cultural Humility, read our background document here.
Does Cultural Safety Training for Dietitians Make a Difference?
Cultural safety training programs for health care practitioners have become increasingly common, but what is their effect on patient outcomes? This question has been inconsistently measured across various cultural groups. See our interpretation of the evidence that exists on this topic below.
The Question
Does cultural safety training for dietitians improve patient outcomes?The Recommendation
Indigenous cultural safety training programs for healthcare providers in Canada, Australia and the Unites States of America may improve outcomes for some patients when developed, implemented and evaluated in collaboration with Indigenous communities and combined with cultural safety strategies at the organizational level. These training programs may not provide benefits on their own.
Cultural competency training for healthcare professionals that seeks to increase competence of African American, Latino/Latina/Hispanic and Asian cultures may have no effect on patient outcomes, including self-management behaviours and patient satisfaction.
A recommendation about the effectiveness of cultural safety training for dietitians on outcomes for 2SLGBTQIA+ individuals could not be made due to a lack of evidence in this population.
Evidence is sparse across all cultural groups included here, and more research is needed.
Grade of Evidence: C & D, depending on the outcome.
To see the full practice question, including the Evidence Statements, Remarks and References, click here.
Tips to Incorporate Cultural Humility Into Your Practice
There are many frameworks to help healthcare providers, including dietitians, to incorporate cultural humility in their practice. Generally, these frameworks emphasize:
Engaging in self-reflection to identify personal biases and knowledge gaps.
Addressing knowledge gaps through training and education.
Building trust with clients.
Integrating culturally appropriate content into healthcare recommendations.
Specific examples relating to various populations can be found in the full practice question.
Grade of Evidence: C
To see the full practice question, including the Evidence Statements, Remarks and References, click here.
Trending Topics are Back!
The PEN team was recently asked to consider adding information about liquid smoke into the PEN System, as dietitians have been asked questions about it by their clients. In 2024, member countries of the European Union (EU) endorsed a recommendation by the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) to deny the renewal of the safety authorization for liquid smoke formulations available in the EU and to begin phasing them out of production in EU member countries. But why did they make this decision, and what evidence was it based on? Should all of your clients avoid liquid smoke?
Find out by reading our Trending Topic - What Advice can Dietitians Tell their Clients Who Are Concerned About Liquid Smoke?
Nutrition Month Webinar! Coffee and Cardiovascular Health
On March 5, 2025, our PEN Nutrition Month Webinar will focus on physical health. DC Members can join us virtually at 12pm ET to learn about coffee's impact on your heart - we'll talk about the evidence behind lesser-known topics like the oils in coffee (cafestol and kahweol) and the optimal timing of your daily cup(s)!
DC Members can register for our free webinar here.
This presentation will reference the practice question, “Do the oils in coffee (cafestol and kahweol) raise blood lipids or increase cardiovascular risk?” - read it now to get a head start on the content!
Did You Know?
Have you noticed that some PEN pathways include a "Message to Our Readers"? Some topics include controversial language or concepts that can be interpreted in multiple ways. In these cases, we include a Message to Our Readers to clarify our meaning and/or to highlight the evidence that we’ve used to inform our decision. If a topic includes a Message to Our Readers, you can find it on the right-hand side of the page (circled in red in the picture below).
Happy reading!
PEN eNews
February 2025 Volume
15 (2)
A Publication of the PEN® System Global Partners,
a collaborative partnership between International Dietetic Associations.
Learn more about PEN.
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. All Rights Reserved.