title: Insights into nutritionists' practices and experiences in remote Australian Aboriginal communities.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To explore and describe methods of communication, education practices, perceived challenges and the potential role of nutritionists working in remote Australian Aboriginal communities in order to inform future public health efforts.
  
  
  METHODS
  Nutritionists who work or have worked in remote Aboriginal communities in Australia's Northern Territory within the past decade were identified via purposive and snowball sampling, and responded to a semi-structured survey in 2012. Content and interpretive thematic analysis was used to generate themes.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Working approaches of 33 nutritionists are presented, representing 110 years of working experience in the Northern Territory. Emerging themes included: 'Community consultation is challenging', 'Partnering with local people is vital', 'Information is not behaviour', 'Localisation of nutrition education is important' and 'Evaluation is tricky'. Available time, training background and workforce structure were said to constrain practice and those nutritionists with longer experience described a more culturally competent practice.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Modifications in structure, training and support of the public health nutrition workforce, facilitation of professional and cultural partnerships, outcome evaluation and localisation and evaluation of health messages may promote more meaningful nutrition communication in remote communities.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Findings can inform further investigation into the structures needed to improve public health skills for nutritionists transitioning from mainstream practice into the challenging cross-cultural context of Aboriginal health settings.
authors.affiliation: Menzies School of Health Research, Northern Territory.
authors.forename: Susan L
authors.initials: SL
authors.lastname: Colles
authors.affiliation: Menzies School of Health Research, Northern Territory.
authors.forename: Suzanne
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Belton
authors.affiliation: Menzies School of Health Research, Northern Territory.
authors.forename: Julie
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Brimblecombe
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001315:Australia; D003142:Communication; D005260:Female; D019538:Health Care Surveys; D006303:Health Services, Indigenous / Q000458:organization & administration*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008507:Medically Underserved Area; D020380:Needs Assessment; D015876:Northern Territory; D015596:Nutrition Assessment; D064686:Nutritionists / Q000523:psychology*; D011369:Professional-Patient Relations; D011634:Public Health; D019035:Rural Health Services / Q000458:organization & administration*; D012424:Rural Population; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires
keywords: Aboriginal; health communication; health promotion; nutrition; social determinants