Clayton-Babb explains, “We under-stand (the chiropractor’s) role more. With the service here, (Flynn) has not only focused on his low back pain treatment, but he has also understood the role that immobility has on chronic disease. So he tends to communicate with us a lot. “If we haven’t seen the patient and he’s seen the patient, there are things that he can pick up on and then have that discussion with us, so we have that interprofessional care going for the patients.” Even the patients are noticing the difference in the care they receive when their health-care practitioners are op-erating on the same page. Lisa Morris has been coming to the Belleville clinic for five years. Her sci-atica has been worsening to the point that she is unable to sleep at night. During one of her appointments with the nurse practitioner, she saw the sign about the pilot program and asked to be signed up. The first time she met with Flynn, she found the chiropractor asked “a hundred and one questions.” “This has been the first time, in any time that I’ve ever been to any sort of doctor or professional, that they have Patient enrolment is consistent with project expectations and patients are demonstrating satisfaction with their service. actually spent time asking lots and lots of questions, and actually thinking that things were connected to something, instead of it being an isolated case,” Morris recalls. She sees how her nurse practitioner and chiropractor are work-ing together to care for her as a patient. “Because (Flynn) is in contact with my nurse (practitioner) whom I see on a regular basis… they’re looking at me as a whole piece, not just fixing (a part of me). They’re trying to see what they can do to help me be better as a whole.” It’s been a year since she signed up for the PCLBP program, and Morris is now moving better and sleeping better. She says it’s been months since she has taken her usual over-the-counter pain medications. She also learned how to “listen” to her body a little better and implement some home care regimen. As a self-employed artist, she de-pends on her physical wellbeing and functional mobility to perform her tasks. She admits she might never be able to totally get rid of her pain (she also has arthritis), but the level of pain she has now is manageable and does not prevent her from living her life and doing her work. “This has enabled me to work, rather than curling up and feeling defeated,” she says triumphantly. “I’d rather not go on disability because I don’t have a pension plan.” Outcomes The pilot sites report back to the Min-istry of Health and Long-Term Care about program implementation and patient outcomes and progress. “All seven pilot sites have met Mount Forest Chiropractic doctors involved in the pilot project (From L-R): Drs. Michelle Gross, Murray Townsend and Brianne O’Driscoll. 24 Canadian Chiropractor September 2016 www.canadianchiropractor.ca
Chiropractic + Naturopathic Doctor September 2016: Page 24
