Grow your understanding of the links between diet and mental health and explore strategies to use nutrition in treatment plans.
Overview
Develop practical knowledge to use nutritional care for mental health management
Rapidly increasing evidence suggests dietary modifications have great potential for managing psychiatric conditions.
On this three-week course from Deakin University, you’ll develop an introductory knowledge in Nutritional Psychiatry, addressing the known links between diet and physical and mental health. You’ll also focus on building practical skills through activities to help you apply your newly acquired knowledge in clinical practice.
Explore the biological mechanisms linking diet and mental health
There are a number of closely linked physiological pathways potentially explaining why and how diet can affect mental and cognitive health.
You’ll explore these different mechanisms, from inflammation and the immune system to the gut microbiome and neurogenesis. With each system, you’ll examine both how they function and the studies linking diet to mental health.
Discover diet- and gut-microbiota-related treatments
When looking to treat psychiatric conditions, gut microbiota and nutrition options hold great promise for novel treatment targets.
This course will take you through a number of diet- and gut-related treatment options, such as probiotics, fermented foods, faecal microbiota transplantation, and restrictive diets. You’ll explore how they interact with the body and their therapeutic uses for a number of physical and mental conditions.
Learn how to implement nutritional psychiatry in clinical practice
When implementing dietary interventions, the strategies need to be tailored to the relevant communities and age groups that you’re treating.
You’ll look at practical ways of communicating diet-related messages, how to address barriers in treatment, and the importance of positivity and self-care.
What will you achieve?
By the end of the course, you‘ll be able to…
- Identify and discuss the current evidence and guidelines on diet and nutrition in the management of mental health disorders.
- Understand common comorbidities and explore the physiological mechanisms by which diet influences mental and brain health.
- Gain practical skills in the implementation of dietary intervention for the management of mental health conditions in your professional practice.
- Reflect and review your current practices and identify opportunities for quality improvement.
Who is the course for?
This course is designed for health practitioners working in mental health who wish to gain knowledge in nutritional psychiatry. It will also be useful to students in their final year with a special interest in diet and mental health.
The course addresses specific areas of diet and mental health care in various aspects of practice. A postgraduate-level knowledge in a health-related degree is desirable.
Syllabus
Week 1: Introduction to nutri-psyche
Meet your teachers
Meet your teaching team and other practitioners, and discover key information about this course, including useful tips and links to help you get the most out of your learning.
Review evidence and recommendations
Review current evidence and recommendations for the use of diet and related lifestyle practices in treatment of mental disorders.
Reflect on the ideas
Reflect on the key ideas presented this week, ask questions, consolidate your knowledge, and find out what’s coming up in Week 2.
Week2: Mechanisms and treatment options
Examine biological dysregulations
Examine biological dysregulations associated with symptomatology including inflammation, gut microbiome and neurogenesis.
Review
Review the latest research and expert opinions on the use of gut and diet-related treatment.
Reflect on the ideas
Reflect on the key ideas presented this week, ask questions, consolidate your knowledge, and find out what’s coming up in Week 3.
Week 3: Applying evidence-based knowledge in treatment
Identify
Identify individual needs and the best approach to treatment.
Translate
Translate research to psychiatric care and identify opportunities for change in your practice.
Reflect
Reflect on what you’ve learnt throughout the course to consolidate your knowledge.
