Clinical articleOriginal researchDeveloping Integrative Primary Healthcare Delivery: Adding a Chiropractor to the Team
Section snippets
Study Population
This project was implemented in two CHCs in Ottawa, Ontario, Carlington Community and Health Services and South-East Ottawa Centre for a Healthy Community, from July 2004 until March 2006. All physicians, nurse practitioners and degree-trained nurses employed at the two study sites were approached to participate in the study. Each center hired a chiropractor, who was integrated as a part-time member of the healthcare team and received salary and full benefits. Chiropractic services were
Results
Twelve providers were followed for the full 18 months of integration. Eight other providers were eligible for inclusion at the beginning of the study: three left their job; four took new positions at the centers, and one nurse refused involvement in the study. The results reported only pertain to the twelve providers followed for the full 18-month integration. The mean age of the providers was 44.1 years, and they all had worked at their centers between two and five years (Table 1). Each
Discussion
Our results indicate that integrating chiropractic care into an established conventional medical setting, specifically a CHC, can be achieved with a high degree of comfort, as reported by healthcare providers and patients alike. These data are in sharp contrast to other published opinions. Kelner and colleagues11 saw the integration of CAM as a distant possibility that would be extremely difficult to achieve. They did not favor this kind of integration and raised doubts about the competence of
Conclusion
This project demonstrated the importance of structuring and scheduling interactions between the established healthcare team and the chiropractors to facilitate a successful integration. We used formal education sessions to help dispel misconceptions about chiropractic and had the chiropractor scheduled into weekly clinical rounds. This integration had a positive impact on providers’ individual practices and changed opinions and views of healthcare practitioners toward chiropractic, resulting in
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