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Framing the nutrition consultation: the agreement that prevents conflict
What to agree in writing with a client before starting: scope, frequency, cancellations, contact channels, payments, and what happens when something falls outside the plan.
Almost every conflict in practice comes from an expectation nobody discussed: how long it takes, what the price includes, whether they can message on a Sunday, what happens if they miss an appointment. Framing is the conversation that prevents all of it, and putting it in writing makes it enforceable without having to argue it.
Framing is not strictly a contract — though it can be formalised as one — and it does not replace informed consent, which covers the clinical intervention. This document covers the service relationship: how you work, what each side expects, and what happens when things do not go to plan.
What it should cover
| Section | What it defines | Why it prevents conflict |
|---|---|---|
| Scope of service | What the fee includes and excludes | Prevents expectations of services never contracted |
| Duration and frequency | How long a session runs and how often you review | Sets the rhythm before it gets negotiated on the fly |
| Cancellations | Notice period and the consequence of not giving it | Turns an awkward argument into a known rule |
| Channels and response times | Where clients write and when you reply | Protects your time outside consultation hours |
| Payments | When, how, and what happens if payment fails | Removes collections as a recurring conversation |
| Term and renewal | When the agreement ends and how it renews | Avoids open-ended relationships with no defined end |
Scope: what is not included
Listing what falls outside is more useful than listing what is in. The items most often assumed without ever being agreed:
- Messaging between sessions, and to what limit.
- Rebuilding the whole plan because preferences changed.
- Reports for third parties: employer, insurer, trainer.
- Extra recipes or menus beyond the agreed plan.
- Shopping support or reviewing photos of meals.
- Cover during holidays or outside the contracted period.
None of these services is bad, and several make good paid products. The problem is not providing them: it is providing them without them being contracted and discovering three months later that they take up half your week.
Cancellation policy
A policy that works has three elements and fits in three lines: a reasonable notice period, a clear consequence, and an explicit exception.
- Notice: 24 or 48 hours, depending on how full your calendar runs.
- Consequence: the session counts as delivered, or a percentage is charged.
- Exception: force majeure, assessed by you, without requiring detailed justification.
Channels and availability
Define one main channel, response hours, and a deadline. For example: messages through the agreed channel, Monday to Friday, answered within 48 working hours. Add what that channel is not: it is not an emergency line, and for an acute health problem the instruction is to seek medical care.
And one clause you will appreciate over time: messages received outside those hours are answered the next working day. Written before it happens, it is information; explained after not answering on a Sunday, it sounds like an excuse.
Payments
- When payment happens: before the session, at the end, or upfront for a package.
- Accepted methods.
- What happens if a payment fails: whether the appointment holds or the slot is released.
- Expiry of session packages, if you sell them.
- Refund conditions, including a package already started.
Ending the relationship
Define how the agreement ends on both sides. The client can leave at any time; you should be able to as well, with notice and for justified reasons — repeated lack of adherence, inappropriate treatment, or a case beyond your scope of competence that needs referral. Include what happens to paid but unused sessions, and remember your duty to retain the clinical record continues after it ends.
Presenting it without it feeling like a contract
- Send it with the first appointment confirmation, not during the consultation.
- Keep it to one page: at four pages, nobody reads it.
- Write it in the second person and without legal jargon.
- Spend two minutes of the first visit on cancellations and channels, the two points that actually get used.
- Keep it signed or with evidence of acceptance, alongside the informed consent.
Frequently asked questions
Does it have to be signed?
Not always, but there should be evidence it was received and accepted. Acceptance through the same channel used for booking is usually enough for a service agreement.
Can I charge for a no-show?
It depends on what you agreed in writing and on the consumer rules in your country. A policy communicated and accepted beforehand is far more defensible than a decision made after the incident.
What if the client does not accept a condition?
That is useful information before you start. You can adjust what is reasonable, and if the disagreement is fundamental it is better to find out at the first visit than the fourth.
Does the same framing work for online consultations?
The structure does. Add what happens if the connection fails, how far in advance the link is sent, and the kind of environment the client is expected to join from.
Next step
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