The project to update and revise the Council on Chiropractic Practice's (CCP) "Clinical Guideline Number One Vertebral Subluxation in Chiropractic Practice" is under way and is gathering broad support from the chiropractic profession.

The CCP board met during the World Chiropractic Alliance's International Summit in Washington D.C. In addition, the CCP held an Open Forum where all interested parties were invited to present evidence, discuss concerns, ask questions and communicate openly with the board and its Guidelines Committee.

According to Christopher Kent, D.C., CCP's President "The CCP has always been about openness and dialogue with the profession and the constituents that will be affected by the publication of its guidelines. This is in stark contrast to the development of other guidelines like Mercy, that were created in secrecy and then forced upon the profession."

Prior to the meeting, the CCP Nominating Committee recommended the addition of several new board members representing all facets of the chiropractic profession from academia, practice, research, philosophy, technique, epidemiology, consumers, students, basic and clinical scientists and guidelines experts.

The CCP Board also established a Guidelines Committee that will direct and guide the updating and revising of the Guideline, the development of an Advisory Board, expansion of its Research Committee and the creation of a Technique Panel of Experts.

The CCP will draw from its long list of supporters who have been involved with CCP since its inception while CCP is also developing deeper ties with advocates such as the technique community.

At last year's WCA Summit more than 30 technique developers and experts gathered to develop a Compendium of Chiropractic Technique.

The list of technique experts now involved with CCP has grown to more than 100 individuals representing the diversity of chiropractic's art.

Involving technique leaders in chiropractic is not new to the CCP. Five years ago, it held a Technique Conference to gather input from leaders in the field. This information was incorporated into the final guideline document. The meeting proved to be the beginning of a deepening relationship.

Matthew McCoy, D.C., head of the Guidelines Committee, stated "Now its time to further develop a literature base for each of the techniques and this is the goal of the Compendium. It will also be possible to 'kill two birds with one stone' with each of the techniques creating a synopsis and providing their supportive literature which will go into both the Compendium and the CCP revision."

Drs. Kent and McCoy both stated there was a great deal of work to be done including dealing with methodological issues, the literature search itself, gathering of the literature with subsequent critical analysis and then the revision of chapters.

They are requesting and inviting input and support from anyone that would like to participate and is willing to work on this important project.

They also stressed that financial support is extremely crucial since without it nothing can happen. "Developing a guideline like this is costly, but if every chiropractor contributes something this will go a long way," McCoy noted.

Interested persons can contact McCoy at editor@jvsr.com or Kent at cbkent@ix.netcom.com.