The Council on Women's Health Annual meeting – 2002

The Council on Women's Health (CWH) held its second annual meeting held during the World Chiropractic Alliance Summit, April 2002.A new slate of board officers was chosen:

The previous chair, Veronica Gutierrez, D.C., stepped down after accepting a position of the Council on Chiropractic Practice. She also anticipates involvement with chiropractic policy on the federal level.

During the meeting, the Council recognized a variety of accomplishments during 2001, including publication of case studies in the Journal of Vertebral Subluxation Research and profiles of members in The Chiropractic Journal’s Women’s Health Council column. The group also discussed future goals and established priorities for the current year. The Council voted to focus their efforts, in 2002, on research, education, new member recruitment, and outreach/partnerships.

As associate editor of JVSR, Dr. Behrendt hopes to develop and compile case studies documenting the impact of subluxation correction in women's health. The CWH agreed to make commitment to case studies a top priority and chose infertility as the first topic.

All chiropractors are invited to contribute a case study. Target date for cases to be presented for review is Oct. 1, 2002. For additional information, contact Dr. Behrendt at mbcawe@aol.com.

Belinda Steenburgh, the WCA's newly appointed director of International Student Affairs, will be working with other CWH members to actively recruit new students and recent graduates into the Council. WCA President Dr. Terry A. Rondberg agreed to give the CWH a $500 scholarship to be awarded to a single mother attending chiropractic college.

The CWH also announced that is is putting together "new member packets" in to encourage participation in the Council. Membership is free for active WCA members. Non-WCA members are invited to join for an annual membership fee of $100 for chiropractors and $25 for students. To maintain active membership, participation in our Annual Survey is required.

In line with one of the Council's priorities for this year – local and national outreach/partnership efforts – the group is preparing letters of introduction to establish relationships with other individuals and entities promoting women's health, including shelters, recovery support groups, civic organizations, parenting groups, health-care providers, and the extended chiropractic community.

"The vision of the WCA Council on Women's Health is vast, caring and productive, and our chiropractors represent a high caliber of the profession, with many talents and passions," stated Leslie Bedell in an article for The Chiropractic Journal. "The needs of women in all cultures continues to escalate with the deterioration of the quality of life – socially, economically, emotionally, spiritually, and physically. Our profession can truly impact people's lives on all levels of existence, by offering to help individuals reach their full life potential through our unique care, subluxation correction."