Necessity of Forum and open communication prove invaluable

by Janet Jordan, COCSA Executive Director and NCLF Meeting Planner

Leaders from chiropractic's national organizations met April 19-20, 2002, in Chicago for the Third Annual Summit of the National Chiropractic Leadership Forum (NCLF) and proved once again what great strides are made when the chiropractic profession works together.

The group moved aggressively forward on addressing the leadership needs of the profession and established a strong foundation for continued consensus building between organizations.

A huge accomplishment of the 2002 Summit was development of definitions for chiropractic terminology that has at times been a stumbling block for the profession. Consensus was reached among Summit participants on definitions for the following terms and phrases:

*** Chiropractic

*** Chiropractic Medicine

*** Chiropractic Physician

*** Chiropractic Necessity, Clinical Necessity, and Medical Necessity

*** Adjustment: Manual therapy

*** Manipulation

*** Mobilization

*** Motion segment

*** Spinal motion segment

*** Subluxation

*** Subluxation Complex

*** Subluxation syndrome

In addition to these definitions, participants agreed on a recommendation to encourage the use of the preferred terms "chiropractic," "chiropractor," "doctor of chiropractic," and "chiropractic healthcare" in publications, presentations and communications. The boards of individual participating organizations will review the definitions and recommendation with ratification expected at the next NCLF meeting in November.

The group also expressed unanimous acceptance and support of a proposed New Jersey bill as a model law for all states. New Jersey Senate Bill No. 2693 defines the practice of chiropractic and permits only licensed chiropractors to perform spinal adjustments to correct subluxations. The full text of the bill can be viewed on the COCSA website at www.cocsa.org.

Participants of the 2002 Summit also reaffirmed the Declaration of Chiropractic Professional Responsibilities and the St. Louis Principles, documents created at last year's Summit in St. Louis. The Declaration of Chiropractic Professional Responsibilities is a code of conduct for doctors of chiropractic and identifies the responsibilities and expectations for every doctor of chiropractic as follows:

*** to maintain alumni membership

*** to exercise jurisprudence

*** to maintain ethical practice standards

*** to be an active member in a state chiropractic association

*** to be an active member in a national chiropractic association

*** to make regular contributions to chiropractic research

*** to engage in grassroots political activity

*** to support the political process financially

*** to live and practice a chiropractic wellness lifestyle

*** to demonstrate intra and inter professional cooperation and respect

*** to participate in mentoring new members of the profession

Widespread acceptance of these responsibilities will ensure the growth, development and enhancement of our chiropractic profession, and NCLF encourages all doctors of chiropractic to embrace this document as a road map for their professional life. Doctors can download a frameable version from the Congress of Chiropractic State Association website at www.cocsa.org.

Similarly, the St. Louis Principles is a code of conduct for NCLF participants and includes the following guiding principles for interaction between chiropractic leaders and organizations:

*** To respect personal difference in style and substance.

*** To participate in meetings openly and honestly.

*** To remain true to our decision and not make promises we can't keep.

*** To respect the professional differences that can exist within the chiropractic scope and practice as outlined in the ACC paradigm.

*** To air our difference inside the leadership forum and not in public.

*** To hold ourselves and each other to the highest standards of accountability and integrity, as expected by the members and constituencies we represent; and

*** That all public communications regarding the NCLF requires mutual agreement.

Both documents were focal points of the Chicago meeting and assisted the group with openly discussing a recent conflict that arose surrounding the appointment of the VA advisory committee after collaborative efforts of participating NCLF organizations had resulted in passage of the VA bill.

Despite the inability of the profession to come to an agreement on the make-up of the advisory committee, the group sustained the momentum of the leadership forum by establishing a crisis communications plan and conflict protocol to avoid future breakdowns between their organizations.

While expressing disappointment over the inability of the group to resolve the VA advisory issue, COCSA President Dr. Tom Klapp deemed the 2002 Summit an overall success citing the numerous significant accomplishments made for a profession that has spent the past 100 years not talking to each other at all.

According to Klapp, "If this was easy, it would have been done a long time ago. We applaud the efforts of Dr. Spoto and those at the table to see the bigger picture and to keep working towards a better chiropractic environment."

The National Chiropractic Leadership Forum is an ongoing effort of the Congress of Chiropractic State Associations to create an apolitical, proactive forum to open lines of communications between national chiropractic organizations and to bring a more unified effort to the chiropractic profession.

Organizations, in alphabetical order, that participate in NCLF are: American Chiropractic Association, Association of Chiropractic Colleges, Council on Chiropractic Guidelines and Practice Parameters, Council on Chiropractic Practice, Congress of Chiropractic State Associations, Federation of Chiropractic Licensing Boards, Foundation for Chiropractic Education and Research, International Chiropractors' Association, National Board of Chiropractic Examiners, World Chiropractic Alliance, and World Federation of Chiropractic.

Companies supporting and supplementing the effort are: ChiroCode Institute, Dynamic Chiropractic, Foot Levelers, and Leader/Leander Health Technologies.

Dr. Mario Spoto of Pennsylvania, a past President of COCSA, chairs the effort and Mary W. Rowe of Canada serves as facilitator. The Executive Director of COCSA is responsible for coordinating all of the group's activities. A special page of NCLF activities is posted at the COCSA website, www.cocsa.org.