a patient-centred approach, the profession will be able to clearly demonstrate its value within the main-stream health care model.” Getting on the bandwagon of patient-centred care, however, must go beyond just providing excellent customer service. Patient-centred care is also what’s driving the shift toward interprofessional collabora-tion, as teams of health practitioners increasingly adapt a “one patient, one chart” model. Education is key for chiropractors to become a credible, equal player in an interprofessional pa-tient-centred care model, according to Humphreys. “Our profession would be a lot better off if we stop focusing on ourselves,” Humphreys comments on the future of the profession and lessons he has learned from the Swiss model. “We should constantly be talking about how we’re going to be better prac-titioners for our patients – how do we work in a team. It should be all about the patient.” Research and evidence-based practice is becoming increasingly important for chiropractic as the profes-sion continues to gain credibility in health care and the public. Expect to see more movements in the profession to advance the chiropractic research agenda. The Canadian Chiropractic Guideline Initiative (CCGI) has upped its game in the last year with several initiatives aimed at narrowing the gap be-tween research and clinical practice. Its Opinion Leaders program serves as a resource for practition-ers to adopt and implement clinical guidelines and promote evidence-based practice. The CCGI has also accelerated its Practice-based Research Net-work, which brings together researchers and clini-cians to further close the research-practice divide. “The majority of the profession has clearly shifted toward recognising the value of research and evi-dence-based care,” Stewart says. “Whether your [practice is] ‘vitalistic’ or broad scope, there is going to be a need for evidence and research to support the care that chiropractors provide.” Research can come in different models – quan-titative or qualitative. Stewart believes whether a chiropractor’s path of practice is broad scope (mixers) or narrow scope (straight, philosophical), it always has to be based on the evidence. He anticipates, as the trend toward evidence-based practice continues, that there will be an increasing “vocal intolerance for practitioners that are not pa-tient-centred or whose practices are not grounded in evidence.” The University of Zurich professor agrees that research will fuel the future of the profession. Hum-phreys and his team at the university has undertaken significant research over the last several years fo-cused on clinical outcomes of chiropractic treat-ments of neck and back pain. February 2016 Canadian Chiropractor 27 Follow the evidence “There is going to be a need for evidence and research to support the care that chiropractors provide.” advocates are increasingly demanding better care from their health care providers through patient-cen-tred approach. Again, this is not a new concept, but focus on patient-centred health care has gained momentum in the last couple of years. Expect this to continue through 2016. While patient-centred care applies to every spec-trum of health care, chiropractors can play a signifi-cant role in advocating for patient-centred care, particularly in helping solve some of the world’s biggest health challenges. “The number one cause of disability in the world is low back pain,” Stewart notes. “The number four leading cause of disability in the world is neck pain. We have incredible tools to deal with this… and with www.canadianchiropractor.ca
Chiropractic + Naturopathic Doctor February 2016: Page 27
