Thursday, October 24, 2019

Elementary Teachers Union (@ETFOeducators) Misleads Its 83,000 Members When Explaining Cutting Benefits' Actual Dietitian Coverage In Place Of Dial-A-Dietitian

Thanks to a person who wishes to remain nameless, I was recently alerted to the fact that the Elementary Teachers Federation of Ontario, a union representing 83,000 elementary teachers and education workers, have removed coverage for Registered Dietitians (RDs) from their benefits plan.

By way of background, here in Ontario, RDs are one of a limited number of regulated health professionals, and of course are the only profession dedicated exclusively to nutrition. Also here in Ontario (and pretty much everywhere), diet and weight related diseases have long since reached epidemic proportions.

As to why ETFO has delisted RDs, the province's only regulated nutrition professionals, according to a document distributed to their members it's because,
"these free services are now available through Ontario Telehealth"
But are they?

Telehealth RDs answer one-off nutrition questions by way of phone calls. They are most assuredly not there to provide individual counselling or comprehensive ongoing care.

Plainly, cutting RDs from ETFO benefits is shortsighted, and suggesting that actual RD services are the equivalent of a Dial-A-Dietitian service designed to answer simple questions is an outright lie.

If you're an ETFO member I'd encourage you to share this post, and to contact the ETFO ELHT Board of Trustees to ask that RD coverage be reinstated.