Trust a Dietitian…in Scotland
Scottish Parliament
British Dietetic Association promotes ‘Trust a Dietitian’ at Trade Union Week in the Scottish Parliament
As part of Trade Union week in the Scottish Parliament, on Tuesday 18th February, The BDA hosted an event to highlight its Trust a Dietitian Campaign in Scotland and to showcase some of the great work and the key contribution that the profession are making to the health of the population of Scotland.
The event was also an opportunity to highlight the work underway by the BDA Trade Union ahead of the annual congress in April.The event was sponsored by Clare Adamson MSP, who unfortunately was ill on the day and we are grateful to Nigel Don MSP who stood in at the last minute.
Nigel Don MSP introduced the event with a few words of support for the campaign and the profession and this was followed by words from both Sian O’Shea, BDA Chairman and Marjory Macleod Chair of The BDA Scottish Board.
Dennis Robertson MSP came along to the event and was interested to hear more about the work of the profession. He informed us of a series of events that he was hosting in the Scottish Parliament the following week as part of Eating Disorders Awareness Week.
Ken Macintosh MSP also came along after being contacted directly by his local constituents and BDA member dietitians Eileen Muir and Elaine Lamont.
The event was a great opportunity for them to discuss this work with their local MSP who was visibly impressed with their initiatives.
“We were both delighted to be invited by the BDA to attend this event and it was useful to meet with representatives from BDA head office and put a face to the names we are familiar with. It was an ideal forum to present two of our local projects Eat Well to Play Well and the Community Toolkit of Healthy Eating Resources.
This was an excellent opportunity to showcase the newly developed shopping activity complete with food models, cartoon character assistants, play money and shopping basket. This is the latest addition to the Eat Well to Play Well game which forms part of the Early Years curriculum in Renfrewshire nurseries.
The Community Toolkit resources are designed to be used in an interactive way by community groups. This gives members the materials to explore healthy eating issues through discussions, interactive food games and quizzes.”
Another game attracting attention on the day from a number of MSP’s was a nutrition game on the BDA stand, developed by Focus and based on the famous Snakes and Ladders game. Games are an excellent learning mode as they create flow, so little distractions and therefore better learning modes. Games are effective for learning as they flatten hierarchies, strengthen relationships, are good for workshops as they reinforce learning, reduce inhibitions, increase enthusiasm and therefore encourage active debate.
Jan Beattie, AHP Officer and Lorna Hall RD, Programme Manager, Reducing A&E Attendances HEAT (T10) Target & Multi-morbidity based in the Primary Care Division, Scottish Government also attended and it was great to discuss with both Jan and Lorna some of the work that they were currently involved in and how we might be able to contribute to this.
The BDA was well represented with attendance from Sian O’Shea, BDA Chairman, Marjory Macleod, Chair of The BDA Scottish Board, Anne Lamb, BDA Scottish Board Member as well as Milly Durrant, BDA Head of Member Services and Debbie O’Rourke, BDA Head of Trade Union.
Sian O’Shea Honourary Chairman of the BDA commented
“This was an excellent start to the BDA’s Trust a Dietitian campaign and though we were not able to obtain a parliamentary slot within Dietitians Week 2014 itself (9-13 June) we couldn’t miss this opportunity to showcase the fantastic work and impact of Scottish Dietitians…well done everyone, we made some great contacts and certainly raised our profile”
Nicola Morris, BDA Policy Officer reporting on the event said:
“Thank you to the Scotland TUC and in particular Ann Henderson for this opportunity and for the support provided in running the event. It provided a real opportunity to showcase the profession and the campaign in Scotland and those in attendance seemed really supportive and interested to find out more about the work that we were involved in. It was a really successful day which created some great contacts and further opportunities to profile both the profession and the ‘Trust a Dietitian’ Campaign in Scotland. Thank you to everyone who was involved in organising and attending this and making it such a successful day”
Marjory Macleod, Chair of the BDA Scottish Board added:
“This event was a huge success not only on the day, but with the contacts we have made and I am looking forward to the opportunities which have been made”
Simon Fevre, Chair of BDA Scotland Trade Union Committee attended a Garden Reception on the Wednesday evening which provided a further opportunity to highlight the Trust a Dietitian campaign amongst the trade unions and MSPs.
To follow our presence at the Scottish Parliament, a motion was lodged in the Scottish Parliament the following day highlighting the contribution of dietitians in Scotland and asking MSP’s to sign up to support this. This has already been signed by a number of MSPs, and BDA members in Scotland have been encouraged to urge their local MSPs to sign up.
The motion can be found at http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/parliamentarybusiness/28877.aspx?SearchType=Advance&ReferenceNumbers=S4M-09081&ResultsPerPage=10.
