There is much talk today about the integration/collaboration among chiropractors and other practitioners. It is important for us to realize that our future success with these collaborations depend on the underlying philosophy from which these practitioners base their care. Because the principles of chiropractic are based on a vitalistic philosophy, it makes most sense to form alliances with providers outside of chiropractic who also practice from the vitalistic perspective. With this in mind, the International Chiropractic Pediatric Association (ICPA) has moved ahead to initiate presence and collaboration with holistic practitioners in various fields.
On Thursday, October 26, 2006, the ICPA had the privilege of presenting two case studies at the recent Pangea Conference on Pediatric Wellness in Chicago. The Pangea Conference is a multi-track integrative program, with the intent of creating new partnerships that support research and clinical practice. Annually, the Pangea Conference provides a forum to discuss research, accepted practices and change, in order to foster comprehensive care for all children.
The conference was cosponsored by The Judith Nan Joy Integrative Medicine Initiative at Children’s Memorial Hospital in Chicago. The Integrative Medicine Initiative (IMI) of Children’s Memorial Hospital is a philanthropically supported research initiative for pediatric clinical care, scientific research, and education. All submitted articles were peer reviewed and published in the course syllabus for the weekend. Northwestern University School of Medicine was the accredited provider for the 2006 Pediatric Integrative Medicine Conference. The vitalistic healing models represented by presenters and attendees included chiropractic, homeopathy, naturopathy, acupuncture, osteopathy, energy therapeutics and holistic pediatrics.
On behalf of chiropractic the ICPA presented the following case studies:
• Chiropractic care of a pediatric patient with growing pains, by Joel Alcantara, DC, and Tricia L. Arndt, DC, DACCP and
• The role of chiropractic in the care of a four-year-old boy diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), by Joel Alcantara, DC, and Kim McCann-Swanson, DC, DACCP.
The ICPA Diplomates, Dr. Arndt and Dr. McCann, each delivered an outstanding oral presentation, which raised significant interest for the collaboration of chiropractic care in the field of holistic pediatric wellness.
After our candidates presented, I was asked about the direction of the ICPA Research Department. I explained to the audience that one purpose of the ICPA Research Department is to gather individual case studies from our members, assess the predominate cases that are presenting in our practices and obtain preliminary data to establish which childhood cases are most relevant. With this information, we then have a clear direction to institute full scale Practiced Based Research Networks (PBRN’s) with our 2,000 members. I explained that PBRN’s offered significant data relevant to the doctor of chiropractic, the services provided and fulfillment of the population’s needs for chiropractic care. I further explained that, very similar to the American Academy of Pediatric’s PBRN’s, the goal of our PBRN is to meet the health needs of children and pregnant women with services in accordance with our findings.
Dr. Jeanne Ohm instructs internationally on the topic “Chiropractic Care for Pregnant Women and Children.” She is executive coordinator of the International Chiropractic Pediatric Association and can be reached via their website at www.icpa4kids.com.
Information about upcoming events can be found on the ICPA website: www.icpa4kids.com.