UPFRONT | News REsEARCH MS research Parker University exec calls for focus of new ‘social movement’ for chiropractors Alberta health LAS VEGAS — The presi-Serves as an example of chi-dent of Dallas, Texas-based ropractors volunteering to initiative Parker University posed a serve the community. Parker The Alberta government has re-leased a multiple sclerosis (MS) plan that will help improve care and support innovative research for the almost 14,000 Albertans with the disease. The plan, called The Way Forward: Alberta’s Multiple Sclerosis Partnership, builds on Alberta’s leadership in MS research and care, and will help the province continue with its tradition of inno-vative medical research. The plan will further integrate services, provide for a more co-or-dinated and comprehensive sys-tem of care, and promote greater partnerships with industry and among MS organizations, the health system and government. “MS is a challenging, unpredict-able disease, and it can be difficult for people with MS to access the right services and supports, espe-cially in rural areas,” said Alberta Minister of Health Fred Horne. “Our plan recognizes these challenges, and will make sure that we provide the supports possible and encour-age research to advance MS treat-ment moving forward.” MS is an inflammatory disease in which the brain and spinal cord are damaged. Alberta has one of the highest rates of MS in the world, with about 340 cases per 100,000, compared to about 240 cases per 100,000 nationally. “The Way Forward promises dignity and quality of life for all Albertans living with multiple scle-rosis. We are extremely pleased to be one of the architects of this ini-tiative on behalf of everyone in Alberta affected by this unpredict-able disease,” said Neil Pierce, president, Alberta and Northwest Territories Division, MS Society of Canada. IssuEs challenge to chiropractors to pursue a “social movement” that will unify doctors of chiropractic towards a com-mon goal. In his address to attendees at the recent Parker Seminars in Las Vegas, Dr. Brian McAulay pointed to the sig-nificant gap between the high public favourability for chiro-practors and low usage of chiropractic services. A re-cent Parker survey of 600 people showed 70 per cent are favourable towards chiro-practors, yet the annual usage of chiropractic among the U.S. population is only eight per cent. In the same survey, 84 per cent of respondents would support someone who would want to pursue a ca-reer as a chiropractor. “For some reason, the American public don’t see the same link between spinal health and overall health,” McAulay said. “We have got to fix that disconnect.” The Parker president said creating a social movement that promotes the value of chiropractic would help nar-row the high favourabili-ty-low usage gap that exists for chiropractors. He offered some key things that need to happen to facili-tate the social movement for chiropractic. First and fore-most is tolerance. “We have to increase toler-ance of one another,” McAulay said. “We have to embrace our differences rather than separate us.” Chiropractors also need a plan, McAulay said, a goal to increase use of chiropractic as Dr. Brian McAulay, Parker University president a health-care service. “What if we as a profession committed to double the us-age of chiropractors from eight per cent to 16 per cent?” McAulay said, adding this would mean increasing the number of people going to a chiropractor in America from 25 million to 50 million. He asked chiropractors to strive to increase the number of patients they see this year, challenging them to “fill your capacity.” And, if they are already at capacity and at a comfortable level, “I chal-lenge you to increase your capacity,” he said. McAulay suggests using daily affirmations to help chiropractors achieve this goal, by adding the doubling of chiropractic usage or in-creasing the number of pa-tients to a chiropractor’s daily affirmations. Lastly, he said, the chiro-practic social movement should involve service to the community by declaring a “day of service,” pursuing one of the Parker Principles, “Loving service is my first technique.” “Get involved in chiroprac-tic service and think about what you can do in service,” McAulay said. He cited the annual Parker Serves is an annual two-day event where volunteers do-nate their time helping out a deserving organization in the community. This year’s Parker Seminar in Las Vegas was held Jan. 9 to 11, with more than 2,100 attendees from across the U.S. and Canada. The con-ference featured more than 130 exhibitors and over 30 educational sessions. Leadership was this year’s conference theme and one of the keynote speakers was-Monica Wofford, a leadership development coach and speaker. In her keynote, Wofford talked about “contagious leadership” and the five key principles of leadership. “Every single thing you do… as a leader, rubs off on other people,” she said. The five essentials of con-tagious leadership are: • high confidence level, un-derstanding who you are and who you are leading • effective and positive com-munication • goals that are SIMPLE (specific, inclusive, mind-ful, passionate, linear and excluding doubt) • attitude, focusing on what people “do and could do and not who they are” • taking action Another key factor in be-coming an effective leader is focusing on the followers. “If you’re not focused on the people who follow you, then you’ll be tremendously skilled (but) alone,” Wofford said. By Mari-Len De Guzman www.canadianchiropractor.ca 10 Canadian Chiropractor February 2014
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