WHAT IS ADVOCACY? Advocacy is often misunderstood and compared to lobbying. Lobbying is not advocacy. Lobbying often has a political context with an end outcome of changing regulation and laws, or has monetary gains attached to it. True advocacy is a grass- roots movement that is taken on by small groups of people, often with very few po- litical ties. These grassroots members have far-reaching community ties, and strive to mobilize these community ties for a “com- mon goal.” CHAs are people who, I think, should be capitalized on, at a community level, to spread the message of chiropractic at a grassroots level. Chiropractic advocates take every opportunity to advance the health of patients by giving knowledge. Grass roots in chiropractic can start with your patient base. Patients are rep- resentatives of the general public who have developed distinctive relationships with your front staff. These relationships are an enormous part of why patients come to your practice. Imagine the dif- ference for the social understanding of chiropractic if we could leverage these relationships between CHAs and patients in a different way! Advocacy is about advancing a cause. In order to advance a cause, one must understand the following: • What is the cause? (The message, or vi- sion of chiropractic and your practice) • Who is the target audience? (Who are you advocating for, or to?) • Does the “advocate” have the proper in- formation to share? • What is the end result of advocacy? (What are we trying to achieve?) The CHAs whom I meet every day across North America want to maximize their roles in their practices. They are prepared to take on the role of an advocate or, at the very least, attach some advocacy duties to their current position descriptions. How can we leverage this better with our staff? • CHAs require in-depth information about the Big Picture. The art, science, and philosophy that is chiropractic. Di- rect them to reading, seminars, the web – have them research chiropractic on a larger scale. • Allow opportunity. Encourage CHAs to share their information, even if they don’t have all the answers. Advocacy is about the cause, not the details. • Find a mentor!! If that mentor is not you, assist them to fi nd someone whom they can look up to and emulate. • Link job duties to advocacy. What could your CHAs do with patients, or in the community, that would enhance the opportunity previously men- tioned? • Support your CHAs’ transformational learning. CHAs require continuing education. • Have a mechanism in place in your prac- tice to teach. A teaching practice is a practice where CHAs and patients can identify with chiropractic and with the “greater vision,” whatever that might be for you. • Invite dialogue and debate with your staff. When we are encouraged to think critically, we are more likely to retain the knowledge. I believe that one of the keys to our chiropractic success and future greater success will be to involve CHAs at an advocacy level. Small groups of people have mobilized and generated massive changes in many arenas. I think chiro- practic clinics across Canada have an op- portunity to use CHAs differently – and I believe they are up for the challenge!• NORTH AMERICAN SPINE SOCIETY MEETING IN TORONTO The North American Spine Society’s 23rd Annual Meeting is be- ing held October 14-18, 2008, in Toronto, Canada, at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre. This year’s meeting will have more presentations than ever before: 105 podium presentations, 92 SIPPs (Special Interest Paper Presentations) and 189 E-Posters. Some of the top abstracts topics include: • Clinical Instinct vs. Standardized Questionnaire: The Spine Specialists Ability to Detect Psychological Distress • Predominant Leg Pain is Associated with Better Surgical Out- comes in Degenerative Spondylolisthesis and Spinal Stenosis • Radiographic Predictors of Clinical Outcomes Following Op- erative or Non-Operative Treatment of Degenerative Spon- dylolisthesis • Outcome of Lumbar Fusion in Patients Over 65 Years Old • Lumbar Fusion Outcomes Stratifi ed by Specific Diagnostic Indication • Outcomes Based on a Low Back Pain Classification System Other topics in spine care will be presented during symposia, which are always a favorite offering at the NASS Annual Meet- ing. The symposia topics will cover a variety of subjects to reflect NASS’ multidisciplinary membership: The Socioeconomic Sport of Spine Care, Lessons Learned from Disc Arthroplasty, Apply- ing Evidence-based Medicine Into Your Practice and Periopera- tive Management of Spine Surgery. To see the latest products in 36 • CANADIAN CHIROPRACTOR | SEPTEMBER 2008 spine care fi rst-hand, visit the Exhibit Hall, which will have more than 220 exhibiting companies. Tim Saunders, author of the New York Times bestseller The Likeability Factor: How to Boost Your L-Factor and Achieve the Life of Your Dreams, will give the Keynote Address. Saunders advocates for an honest, ethical analysis of business realities with a straightforward program for improvement. The Presidential Speaker will be Lou Holtz, one of the most successful college football coaches of all time; most notably at Notre Dame. Holtz has written three New York Times best sell- ing motivational books and he is currently a college football studio analyst on ESPN. The specialty educational tracks and pre-meeting educational course sections are back by popular demand. These tracks will consist of special symposia and SIGs (Special Interest Group discussions). The sections on Spine Biologics and Research and Motion Technology information on developments in spine care were highly-rated and had standing room only in 2007. Drs. Jeffrey Wang and Michael Zindrick, the course chairs, intend to provide more cutting-edge information on developments in spine care. To learn more about the North American Spine Society’s 23rd Annual Meeting and for instructions on how to register, please visit www.spine.org. www.canadianchiropractor.ca news
Chiropractic + Naturopathic Doctor September 2008: Page 36
