Each year, the May issue of Canadian Chiropractor focuses on wellness and nutrition.
Each year, the May issue of Canadian Chiropractor focuses on wellness and nutrition. We breathe a little deeper, and, especially in our lead story, try to connect with less technical, overall wellness-related subjects that we do not usually touch on, but that have a bearing on a DC’s practice and/or the patients who come in for help.
Why, then, has a lead story about spinal cord injury (SCI) – potentially very technical – been chosen this year?
There were three considerations behind this choice. First, May is SCI and Canadian Paraplegic Association (CPA) awareness month across Canada. The CPA begins the month with a ceremony on Parliament Hill, inviting politicians to spend the day in a wheelchair and experience for themselves that the world is not flat. Second, where better to focus efforts on nurturing the best possible quality of life, and perhaps breathe hope for an increased degree of wellness, than on a situation where catastrophic injury has led to life-changing consequences? And finally, as illness and injury prevention is a major component of wellness, a discussion of SCI prevention fits perfectly into the vision behind health and wellness care. With these elements in mind, we pursued a multidisciplinary overview of SCI for inclusion in this year’s May issue.
Chiropractors are well positioned to become more involved in a plethora of health-care contexts, and SCI is definitely one of these. This vast and complex area is one in which, according to Dr. Richard Hunter, chiropractic contributor to our SCI article, chiropractors are currently greatly underutilized. In fact, there is great potential for the profession to marry its knowledge and capabilities, its holistic approach and its emphasis on prevention with the formidable scientific and clinical advances that medicine has achieved to expand on current approaches in the area of SCI.
In order to increase the profession’s role in this area, DCs must become familiar with these patients and the nature of their injuries, as well as develop the confidence to work with them safely and effectively. For this to come about, training and dialogue are called for within the profession. As well, the profession must pursue opportunities to reach out to this demographic of people and educate them – and members of their health teams – regarding the benefits that could be realized by including chiropractic in their care regimens. Further involvement and potential benefits could be achieved if DCs become more active in SCI prevention initiatives. Finally, SCI research is a very exciting field for chiropractors interested in a career in science to enter and explore.
I wish to thank each member of the multidisciplinary team that coalesced to bring us an overview of SCI for this issue. It is my hope that some of the ideas touched on will open doors for chiropractors to become much more involved with the courageous men, women and children who live with these injuries, and to help with the many challenges that they face from day to day. The result of your involvement may be a decrease in injuries or, where injury has occurred, hope for increased wellness and improved quality of life.
Bien à vous,
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