Characteristics of exercise- and nutrition-based continuing education for health-care professionals to support community-living older adults in Canada

Health-care professionals (HCPs) have an important role in disseminating and implementing exercise and nutrition care to older adults to support aging in place. We performed an environmental scan to examine the availability of exercise- and nutrition-based continuing education (CE) resources for kinesiologists, physiotherapists, exercise physiologists, occupational therapists, dietitians, and pharmacists in Canada relating to the specific needs of community-living older adults. Data were collected between 2023 and 2024 using websites of provincial and national organizations for HCPs, advocacy organizations for chronic conditions, and aging institutes; communication with knowledge users; and a targeted Google search. Sixty-nine courses were identified that have been active within the past 5 years. Notably, only 9% focused exclusively on nutrition compared to 64% that focused exclusively on exercise. Also, most courses (74%) delivered content aimed at age-adjacent chronic health conditions, while few described their content with respect to healthy aging specifically. While courses emphasized evaluation and application in their course objectives, these goals were inconsistent with the fact that most courses had short durations (<1.5 h) and were delivered virtually and asynchronously. Our work suggests that the organizations we scanned provide limited education on nutrition for older Canadians. Furthermore, across both exercise and nutritional education, in-person or hybrid options to support the training and application of practical skills are lacking. Exercise and nutrition-focused CE development would support HCP learners to help their older clients age in place.