PRImARY HEAlTH CARE 24 Alberta communities get access to Family Care Clinics Twenty-four communities in Alberta were the most recent beneficiaries of the Alberta government’s latest roll out of its Family Care Clinics (FCCs) initiative – which provides Albertans better access to primary health care. “Our government made a commitment to Albertans that we would increase access to primary health care, and we are doing just that,” said Alberta Premier Alison Redford. “We are working with physicians and other health care providers on how primary care evolves in the future, and part of that work is moving forward with Family Care Clinics.” The 24 communities chosen in this second wave of new FCCs were identified as having the greatest need for improved access to primary health care, and are considered to be ready and have the capacity to implement an FCC, according to the Ministry of Health. The first wave saw three pilot FCCs established, one each in Calgary, Edmonton and Slave Lake. Other communities will be considered for future waves of FCCs, the government said. Government is working with leaders and health providers in the 24 communities to develop plans for each FCC. The stand-alone clinics will be staffed with a team of health providers brought together to meet the unique health and social needs of the community they serve. FCCs provide non-emergency primary health care services, such as diagnosis and treatment of illness,Screening, immunization, health promotion, chronic disease prevention and management, and links to other health and community agencies. Each FCC is expected to provide extended hours of service, same-day appointments and access to the most appropriate member of the care team, the ministry said. The Alberta government has budgeted $50 million this year to support the development of FCCs. “We see this as a means of enhancing our model of care and expanding primary health care services for our complex, high needs population,” said Vera Caine, board chair of the Boyle McCauley Health Centre. FCCs complement the services of Primary Care Networks (PCN) in the province. PCNs are networks of privately owned physician offices that receive supplementary funding to hire other health professionals to help deliver enhanced services to their patients. “When physicians and government achieve proper primary care reform in Alberta, this will be the principal driver toward gaining what is needed for a safe, efficient, timely and quality health care delivery system for Albertans,” said Dr. Michael Giuffre, president, Alberta Medical Association. “I look forward to exploring how FCCs and PCNs will complement each other in Alberta’s primary care neighbourhood.” NUmBER CRUNCHINg Back track Low back pain (LBP) is a major cause of disability, and health care expenditure associated with it accounts for a significant portion of a primary care physician’s practice, according to the Ontario Chiropractic Association. 80 percentage of adults who have suffered or will suffer from back pain at some point in their life #2 LBP is second only to the common cold as a cause of lost work time 11 percentage of patient visits in Ontario that relate to low back pain and other musculoskeletal problems 1. 2 billion the estimated direct and indirect cost of LBP in Ontario annually CONTINUINg EDUCATION Running conference and expo benefits various causes The Royal College of Chiropractors Sports Sciences (RCCSS) is hosting the Running Conference and Expo at the Abilities Centre in Whitby, Ont., on Nov. 16 and 17. With the theme, Run Faster – An Integrated Approach to Performance Enhancement, the conference will feature world-class speakers that include: • Elite track coaches Kevin Tyler, Dr. Mike Young and Wes Moerman; • Dr. Reed Ferber, running biomechanist and athletic therapist; • Dr. John Berardi, nutritional scientist; • Dr. Alex Hutchinson, running expert; • Dr. Jeff Cubos, sport specialist chiropractor; • Blaise Dubois, sport physiotherapist; • Dr. Judy Gross, mental health consultant; and • Jason Dunkerley, paralympian. The expo – themed, “Education, Inspiration, and Opportunity” – will feature running related exhibitors and vendors, interactive exhibits including gait analysis, VO2Max and functional testing, and chiropractic, massage therapy and chiropody outreaches. Expo speakers include: • Former Olympic synchronized swimmer Fanny Letourneau, leading Pilates for Runners; • National Master’s Team Dragonboater Suzanne Hennig, leading Yoga for Runners; • Dr. Carol Ann Weis and Jennifer Faraone, leading Pregnancy and Running; • Certified Youth Fitness Specialists Michael Mroczek and David Kittner, leading Kids and Running; • Certified Sport Massage Therapist Remo Bucci, leading Massage for Runners; and • Former Olympic marathoner and Canadian marathon record holder Silvia Ruegger, leading Running and Reading for Kids. The event also features an elite athlete panel that includes Perdita Felicien, Phylicia George, Anson Henry, Priscilla Lopes-Schliep, Dr. Jillian Drouin, Dr. John Definney, Silvia Ruegger and paralympian Jason Dunkerley. A portion of the proceeds from the expo will be donated to CanFund, an organization that supports Canada’s athletes internationally, according to event organizers. Another portion of the proceeds will be donated directly to local track and athletic clubs through an expo ticket fundraiser. The Abilities Centre will also be a drop-off point for “Sole Revival – Shoe Donation” from Oct. 27 until the date of the expo. All proceeds raised will go directly to the Abilities Centre. People can drop off a pair of shoes with a Loonie taped inside each shoe and receive a $5 discount for the expo. The expo is also helping support para-athletes through its partnership with Parasport Ontario, the organizers said. Register for the Conference at www.rccssc.ca. Tickets for the expo can be purchased through track and athletic Clubs, the website or at the door on the day of the event. RECOgNITION Parker University names new VP of external affairs Dallas-based Parker University’s Dr. Ken Thomas has been appointed as the university’s new vice-president of external affairs. Dr. Thomas has served in a variety of essential leadership roles with Parker University – formerly known as Parker College of Chiropractic – most recently as vice-president of academics for the past six years. “Dr. Thomas has always demonstrated his willingness to serve Parker University in its area of greatest need and, thusly, he has now accepted an opportunity to help Parker increase the selectivity and recognition of its chiropractic program,” said Dr. Gery Hochanadel,Provost of Parker University. In his new role as vice-president of external affairs, he will lead the creation of a cohesive and innovative external strategy to develop, implement and manage articulation agreements with colleges and universities to facilitate enrollment of the best and brightest into Parker’s doctor of chiropractic (DC) program. He will also develop and maintain relationships, both domestic and abroad, for DC educational and clinical experiences. “This is a pivotal role for Parker and our chiropractic program, and I look forward to helping our DC program expand,” said Dr. Thomas. Chiro helps cut diagnostic imaging spend: CCA The Canadian Chiropractic Association (CCA) wants to help provinces streamline its medical imaging policy by helping reduce unnecessary yet costly medical imaging, particularly for low back pain. Premiers at the Council of the Federation agreed to develop and adopt guidelines for medical imaging in minor head injuries, lower back pain and headaches. “The Council of the Federation goals are achievable if there is better guidance on alternatives to unnecessary diagnostic tests,” said Dr. Jeff Warren, president of the CCA. Studies suggest annual spending on diagnostic imaging has increased to $2.2 billion. The Canadian Association of Radiologists estimates between 10 and 20 per cent of imaging tests may be unnecessary, and could lead to savings of $220 million each year. Lower back pain could be at the top of the list for potential savings in medical imaging by referring patients to a local spinal care pathway for assessment and management, instead of diagnostic imaging, the CCA said. “We’re looking to work with provincial associations to help inform the provincial governments about the opportunities here to provide better care through their efforts to reduce unnecessary diagnostic imaging,” said Michael Heitshu, director of government affairs and policy at the CCA. Heitshu added this move to improve diagnostic imaging policies is not just about governments looking to save money, but also provides great potential for delivering better health care for patients. CCRF symposium aims to close research-practice gap The Canadian Chiropractic Research Foundation will bring together “worldclass” chiropractic researchers across Canada and from around the world to discuss key issues and priorities facing the chiropractic profession in a symposium to be help Sept. 27 and 28, at the Intercontinental Hotel in Toronto. The Canadian Chiropractic Research Symposium titled, Closing the Research- Practice Gap in Neuromusculoskeletal Health, Injury and Disease, hopes to address important questions for the chiropractic profession, including: • How research can better relate to the 7,000 clinical practitioners in Canada • What research is needed over the next five years • How researchers, policy and clinical decision-makers can work together • How Clinical Practice Guidelines link to policy development • The role of scientific evidence in developing public and health policy • How researchers can help reduce the knowledge-to-practice gap and improve patient care • How researchers can favourably influence policies to help standardize patient experience across Canada • How to strengthen the connections between the research of a neurophysiologist, biomechanist, cell biologist, epidemiologist or social scientist and the field practitioner • How collaborative neurophysiology research can lead to better treatment and prevention of whiplash injuries • How biomechanics research can contribute to clinical practice in the future • How advances in cellular and molecular biology can define chiropractic Clinical practice • Are there measurable outcomes of chiropractic research in Canada? • What deliverables and meaningful outputs should researchers develop to quantify the benefit to the stakeholders: the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR), the public and policymakers? The two-day event features keynote speakers: Jane Aubin, chief scientific officer and vice-president, research and knowledge translation portfolio at CIHR; Collin Carrie, parliamentary secretary to the minister of health; Hani El-Gabalawy, scientific director, Institute of Musculoskeletal Health and Arthritis, CIHR; and Michael Fehlings, medical director of the Krembil Neuroscience Center and heads the spinal program at Toronto Western Hospital, University Health Network. Canada shines at international congress The World Federation of Chiropractic (WFC) 12th Biennial Congress and the Fédération Internationale de Chiropratique du Sport (FICS) Assembly and Symposium, two events held in Durban, South Africa, last April, were a showcase of Canadian excellence as awards and honours were handed out to several Canadian professionals at these events. At the WFC Congress, hosted by the Chiropractic Association of South Africa (CASA), and attended by 850 delegates, Dr. Jessica Wong of Toronto received the Scott Haldeman Award, first prize in the international original research competition for the best full paper. Wong’s study, co-authored by Drs. Marion McGregor, Silvano Mior and Patrick Loisel, evaluated the impact of policy changes on the number of workers’ compensation claims due to back injuries in Ontario. It found that policies, when modeled based on economic theory, had less impact on the number of claims than other identified drivers. Two of the other three main research paper awards also went to Canadians. Dr. Jairus Quesnele received the second place Award for work with Dr. Jay Triano of Canadian Memorial Chiropractic College(CMCC) and Dr. Greg Wells from the University of Toronto, using functional MRI to measure blood flow in the neck and brain circulation systems during various neck positions and cervical manipulation. The study reported no clinically important change in blood flow through the vertebral arteries. Drs. Rick Ruegg, Martin Descarreaux, Roly Bryans and colleagues from across Canada received the fourth main prize for their paper titled, “Evidence-based guidelines for the chiropractic treatment of adults with neck pain,” prepared with support from the Canadian Chiropractic Association (CCA) and the Canadian Federation of Chiropractic Regulatory and Educational Accrediting Boards. All of these prize-winning papers will soon be published in the Journal of Manipulative and Physiological Therapeutics. Those presenting the awards include Dr. Scott Haldeman, who was retiring as chair of the WFC Research Council after 25 years of service, and the new chair Dr. Greg Kawchuk of Edmonton. Dr. Kawchuk, one of the profession’s leading researchers, holds the Canada Research Chair in Spinal Function in the Faculty of Rehabilitation Medicine at the University of Alberta. He delivered a keynote lecture in the opening session called, Palpation and Emerging Technologies for Assessment of the Spine in Chiropractic Practice. In this session, he explained how emerging objective technologies such as ultrasound and EMG will increasingly replace subjective palpation to measure joint motion and other biomechanical function, similar to the use of technology for other functions such as body temperature, vision and hearing. Canada’s two representatives on the WFC executive council were also featured speakers at the Congress. Dr. Greg Stewart of Winnipeg, a past-president of the CCA and currently WFC first vice-president, spoke at the forum on longterm contracts for care, where issues of appropriateness of various terms and forms of contract were debated. Dr. Deborah Kopansky-Giles of CMCC presented a lecture on the evidence-based management of chronic spine pain disorders. Dr. Jean Moss, president of the CMCC, received one of the three WFC Honour Awards. These awards, the highest offered by the WFC, acknowledge those who have given distinguished and exceptional service during their career to advance the international growth of the chiropractic profession. Since 1991, there have been 24 recipients of these honour awards. The three past Canadian recipients are Dr. Donald Sutherland, Dr. William Kirkaldy-Willis – both 1991 recipients – and Dr. David Cassidy, who received the award in 2009. Other recipients of WFC Honour Awards were Mr.Kent Greenawalt, CEO of Foot Levelers USA, and Dr. Anthony Metcalfe, a past-president of the British Chiropractic Association, the European Chiropractors’ Union and the WFC. The FICS Symposium offered three prizes for best original research in the field of sports chiropractic. First prize, for a paper titled, The Immediate Effect of Sham Laser and Three Different Spinal Manipulative Protocols on Kicking Speed in Soccer Players, was awarded to Drs. Kyle Deutschmann, Andrew Jones and Charmaine Korporaal of South Africa. Second and third prizes went to research teams led by faculty members from CMCC. Dr. Glen Harris and colleagues won second prize for their paper, The Effects of Instrument-Assisted Soft-Tissue Mobilization and Sham Microcurrent Therapy on Hamstring Flexibility When Performed on the Plantar Fascia of Healthy Subjects: A Pilot Study. Dr. Mohsen Kazemi and colleagues received third prize for their paper titled, The Combined Effect of Creatine and Sodium Bicarbonate Supplementation on Blood Lactate and Anaerobic Power in Young Taekwondo Players. BY DavID CHAPmAN-SmITH