Use of Computers in Dietitians' Duties

• Published in: Eiyōgaku zasshi Vol. 54; no. 5; pp. 315 - 324
• Main Authors: Inoue, Setsuko, Saito, Kimiko
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: The Japanese Society of Nutrition and Dietetics 1996
• Subjects: computer; computer training; dietitian's duties
• ISSN: 0021-5147; 1883-7921
• DOI: 10.5264/eiyogakuzashi.54.315

In order to identify and define the types of educati onal resources for dietitians needed to optimize their use of computers in work places, a questionnaire survey on computer use was conducted among 961 dietitians selected from the list of members of E-Association in Tokyo and Kanagawa. The results of the analysis of 308 ans wers include the following. 1) The overall use ratio was 55.8%, and the breakdown by the types of facilities was 63.0% for the industry, 62.7% for hospitals, 51.2% for schools, 40.7% for administration, and 31.2% for welfare facilities. The breakdown by the mode of management was 66.7% for semidirect management, 65.2% for consigned management and 52.1% for direct management. 2) About 80% of the facilities used the computer for dietetic management and menu management, and about 60% for documentation, purchase order control, food item control and preparation of management data. 3) The field of the computer use varied by the type of facilities; hospitals used it extensively for a wide variety of jobs whereas other facilities used it only in a limited way. 4) The list of advantages of computer use was topped by being free of clerical work in every facility, but other advantages varied widely from one facility to another. 5) The list of disadvantages was topped by computer breakdowns (43.2%), followed by technical problems (37.0%), expenses (31.5%) and software (27.4%). There were significant differences from one facility to another, particularly in hospitals and corporations. 6) The degree of need for computer training was related to the type of work carried out by facilities, not to the type of facilities, the form of management, the type of computer sys-tem or software. The items which were frequently listed as needing training were the theory and basic operation skills, the word processing skills, and the use of dedicated software.