Guidance for Professional Use of Social Media in Nutrition and Dietetics Practice

Current Topics in Health Care Law

“…9 With this continued growth, particularly regarding the information-and imagesharing platforms, nutrition and dietetics practitioners have a professional obligation to ensure accuracy and transparency, citing photographs, figures, tables, and videos to their source of origin, and to clearly label content that functions as an advertisement or promotion. 10 (Principle 2d: "Respect intellectual property rights, including citation and recognition of the ideas and work of others, regardless of the medium (e.g. written, oral, electronic."…”

“…As noted in an Ethics in Practice article published previously, under Federal Trade Commission guidelines, nutrition and dietetics practitioners on social media are considered advertisers when they are endorsing a product in exchange for any payment or compensation, including free or discounted products. 10 (Principle 2a: "Disclose any conflicts of interest, including any financial interests in products or services that are recommended. Refrain from accepting gifts or services which potentially influence or which may give the appearance of influencing professional judgment."…”

“…11 Using keywords, such as #ad, #sponsored, or #paidpartner, is recommended at the start of a post to help promote transparency. 10,12,13 Nutrition and dietetics practitioners are also compelled to ensure that all social media content is consistent with current Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) regulations. 14 (Principle 2h: "Respect patient/client's autonomy.…”

Informing online professional dietetics practice: The development and pilot testing of the Social Media Evaluation Checklist

“…[12][13][14][15] Recently, the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics released guidelines for dietitians' professional use of social media. 16 While published guidelines outline the standards expected of health professionals using social media, 3,12,[17][18][19] no studies have investigated how dietitians construct social media posts consistent with their ethical and professional obligations. A well-designed instrument could provide dietitian content creators with a framework to support the development of ethical and professional social media posts.…”

“…The Australian Medical Association (AMA), Australian Health Practitioner Regulatory Agency (AHPRA) and the UK Health Care Professions Council (HCPC) developed guidelines to support the ethical and professional use of social media by members 12–15 . Recently, the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics released guidelines for dietitians' professional use of social media 16 . While published guidelines outline the standards expected of health professionals using social media, 3,12,17–19 no studies have investigated how dietitians construct social media posts consistent with their ethical and professional obligations.…”