This issue takes a look at chiropractic’s role in the rehabilitation process.
This issue takes a look at chiropractic’s role in the rehabilitation process.
Dr. Rocco Guerriero offers a definition of rehabilitation, adapted from the World Health Organization, as “a progressive, dynamic, goal-oriented, time-limited intervention, which enables an individual with an impairment to reach their optimal functional level.” He says that a comprehensive rehabilitation program moves the chiropractic continuum of care from a passive to an active mode.
At St. John’s Rehabilitation Hospital, chiropractors join forces with other practitioners in the Back on Track program. They help people who have sustained serious injuries in work or motor vehicle accidents return to function and their normal lives.
At the National Spine Centre in Calgary, chiropractors are members of a collaborative triaging system that is significantly reducing patients’ wait times for care, easing the heavy backlog faced by spinal surgeons.
In our cover story, Dr. Richard Hunter shares insight into what doctors of chiropractic can offer to those with spinal cord injury (SCI). He speaks from experience, notably a 22-year association with Canadian icon Rick Hansen, whose foundation has raised millions of dollars for spinal cord injury research. It is Rick Hansen’s dream that recovery from SCI will one day be a reality.
Of Hansen, Dr. Hunter says, “He has the ability to help people look deep inside themselves to examine their own fears and perceived disabilities, and he provides inspiration to find strength to overcome them and carry on.” Hansen also has praise for Hunter’s services. “One of the big lessons that I learned during the (Man in Motion) tour was the importance of paying close attention to your body, and staying on top of small discomforts so they don’t become bigger problems later on,” he told Canadian Chiropractor. “I still try to practise this, and feel so fortunate to have had such a wonderful practitioner in Dr. Hunter for over 20 years. From post-rehab, to elite sport to the everyday demands of living with a spinal cord injury,” says Hansen, “he’s had such a huge impact on the quality of my life.”
We don’t ever feel sorry for Rick Hansen because he does not feel sorry for himself. After all, which of us has pushed ourselves around the world in a wheelchair?
His flame burns brightly with hope, thus rekindling our own.
Another point of light still with us on the planet is Art Linkletter. A friend of numerous U.S. presidents and revered entertainers such as Lucille Ball and Bob Hope, Linkletter told chiropractors recently that no matter your age, the rest of your life can still be the best of your life.
“Love and enthusiasm for what you do” will keep you young, says Linkletter. He cited a situation in which he once asked a cheerless looking woman if she was happy, to which she responded, “Of course I am!” “Then why,” he said gently, “don’t you communicate that to your face?”
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