InTouch: Association news March 2021 Chair's message
Dear Colleagues,
The implementation on Bill 46 is an ongoing project. What seemed to be a scary and sad change is evolving into an exciting re-imagination to our incredible association. Dr. Natalie Carrington and Dr. Kelly Fleck, with the support of your ACAC Council, have put together a fantastic group of chiropractors to help represent every member of our province.
On behalf of Council, we are thrilled to see the addition of Dr. Jennifer Adams-Hessel, Dr. Jacqueline Boyd, Dr. Dale Macdonald, Dr. Elaine Screaton, and Dr. Anna Winner. Our profession is in great hands. My sincere thanks to our new association co-chairs and to our new group of leaders. COVID has put so much of our lives on hold this year, but I wanted to assure you that our fight to regain our imagining funding and advance our scope expansion efforts are alive and well. Council and the ACAC team have kept these efforts on the front burner and are actively trying to make progress on these issues as we speak. We hope to report on positive outcomes, later this year.
Last week marked the celebration of International Women’s Day. This is an important acknowledgement of all the incredibly strong and fierce female chiropractors, staff, and Council members that we are fortunate to have as leaders and colleagues. I hope that one day, we don’t have to choose a day to celebrate our female leaders, we just celebrate on a daily basis.
On that note, the Canadian Chiropractic Association is running diversity, equality, and inclusiveness training sessions, which are free with your CCA membership. This program is excellent and of significant value for all of us. I encourage ACAC members who are also CCA members to take advantage of this unique resource as it is an uncommon opportunity. This training is available, free of charge, to help better understand these important issues and receive CE credits. This is more information in an article below, and it will be posted on the ACAC website.
With Bill 30 coming into play on April 1, you will see a change in the makeup of your ACAC Council. We will be welcoming four new public members to our Council table. Please keep an eye on your email for announcements and please reach out to your Council member or me directly if you have any questions or concerns. That’s what we’re here for!
As we spring forward, I look back at this past year and think of the amazing work that all members have achieved. This time last year, we were at the cusp of our first lockdown and significant uncertainty. The ACAC moved quickly and thoughtfully to prepare the COVID-19 Pandemic Practice Directive and provided it to all members to help guide a safe restart in every clinic across the province.
Throughout this past year, the professionalism of chiropractors, and their staff, has shone through as we continue to practice and provide Albertans with the important care and treatment they require to lead healthy and productive lives. Your resilience is a testament to your training, and your care for patients. So, take a moment to reflect and recognize the great things you have achieved this past year. Thank you and congratulations. Here is to great things upcoming for us all.
Yours in health, Dr. Brad Kane ACAC Chair
Join us for our next virtual member meeting on April 13 at 12:30 p.m. Watch the recording of the March member meeting above. The ACAC's last virtual members meeting took place on March 9. Members joined Council Chair Dr. Brad Kane, CEO Sheila Steger, and Registrar Dr. Todd Halowski on the one-hour information sharing and Q&A session.
Dr. Kane provided an overview on Bill 46 implementation, including the work that is underway on forming the association’s Inaugural Board Committee (IBC) and the appointment of additional public members to Council.
Sheila provided an update including the continued closure of the ACAC office to the public, encouragement to review to available COVID supports, the launch of our spring If It Hurts campaign, and more.
Dr. Halowski gave an updated on regulatory activity including thanking members for their prompt completion of conditional renewal requirements, which helps diminish the administrative load in the ACAC office come June.
Participate in the March ThoughtExchange In December 2020, research reports and articles related to the mental health impacts on people as a result of prolonged pandemic restrictions began frequently appearing. In addition, anecdotal information and personal interactions between members and ACAC staff or Council members indicated that some members may also be feeling pandemic response fatigue, or were being engaged by their patients, staff, or others on this topic.
As such, the ACAC launched mental health-themed communications, delivered three times each week: Monday (focus), Wednesday (breathe), and Friday (recharge). These short pieces are meant to provide helpful, uplifting information and resources to support your mental wellbeing, and can be shared with others in your circles. How have you found them? This ThoughtExchange will run from March 15 to April 1, 2021.
2020 research shows Albertans still believe in chiropractic care Every two years, the ACAC conducts market research to track attitudes toward chiropractic care in Alberta and assess the effectiveness of our marketing and promotional efforts. This research informs opportunities for future marketing strategies and messaging.
The most recent research was conducted between November 9 and 27, 2020 by Janet Brown Opinion Research. In total, 1,200 Albertans, age 18 years and over, were contacted at random by telephone and invited to participate.
Even with the COVID-19 pandemic, Albertans still believe in, and are receiving chiropractic care for their back, neck, or joint pain. Just under half of Albertans (48 per cent) say they probably, or definitely, will consider seeing a chiropractor in the future. This is up four points since 2018.
Overall, the 2020 results are very similar to the 2018 results. In her report, Janet Brown writes this suggests “COVID-19 pandemic has stalled the growth of chiropractic care in Alberta. However, use of and attitudes toward chiropractic care remain mostly positive and have not declined during these turbulent times.”
This contrasts with the finding that since 2018, there has been a significant drop in the proportion of respondents who say they would visit their family doctor for back or neck pain, headaches and migraines, joint pain, and stiffness. More people are saying they would visit a massage therapist and to a lesser extent, a chiropractor.
Brown adds, “this may suggest COVID-19 has made Albertans less likely to access traditional health care services, and more open to allied health care services.”
The research results show that 88 per cent of respondents would be comfortable telling their family doctor that they saw a chiropractor.
The research is designed to identify factors that motivate or prevent an individual to consider chiropractic care; determine the number of Albertans that have ever visited a chiropractor; determine basic levels of patient satisfaction; identify factors that result in chiropractic care; and measure public awareness and perception of chiropractors and the ACAC’s promotion of chiropractic.
When asked about the factors that influence their decision to see a chiropractor, the top answers were related to overall satisfaction with chiropractic, knowing other people that had seen a chiropractor, treatment not requiring surgery or is a good alternative to taking drugs, and the cost of chiropractic treatment being covered by health-care insurance.
On the topic of recall of recent ACAC advertising, 42 per cent of respondents replied they had seen or heard our advertising campaign in the past few months, up slightly from the 2018 results. The ACAC will use these findings to inform our ongoing promotions and advocacy efforts to position chiropractic as a safe and integral part of overall patient health and well-being.
For more information on the 2020 Market Assessment Survey results, please contact Parker Hogan, Director Member and External Relations.
Key findings for February ThoughtExchange: COVID-19 resources on the right track Thank you for participating in February’s ThoughtExchange, which ran from February 16 to March 4. While less than 5 per cent of the membership participated, the thoughts that were shared were thought-provoking and helpful, which we can use in future campaigns and made good headway in helping members become accustomed to ThoughtExchange.
The thoughts from this exchange can be categorized into five main themes (in order of high rating/importance):
As indicated in the ordering of these themes, a significant amount of shared thoughts (averaging at 3.5 stars in importance) were unrelated to the February question.
The top-rated thoughts were those related to the time and effort the ACAC has put into supporting members.
While there were several comments included in the exchange that were not related to the question, we were pleased to see that overall, members are finding ACAC COVID-19 communications and resources helpful.
Whether or not you were able to participate in this exchange, we urge you to continue making participating in ThoughtExchanges a priority. We are committed to sharing the findings of these exchanges and plan to use your feedback and thoughts to help inform our future planning.
CMCC Practice OpportUnity On February 17, ACAC Professional Practice Officer and Senior Public Relations Coordinator virtually attended the CMCC’s Practice OpportUnity to promote the benefits of practicing in Alberta. With nearly 500 students, faculty, and chiropractors registered, Practice OpportUnity provides an invaluable networking, information-sharing, and trade show experience.
Features of this event include spotlights on industry product and services suppliers, chiropractors who may be looking to hire new graduates or sell their practice, and some provincial regulatory colleges and associations.
Students who entered the virtual booth were able to access relevant documents and see the work the College and Association does to regulate and promote the profession in Alberta. A live chat and video forum was available for students to ask questions that were important to them, such as details about the jurisprudence exam, provisional licensing and ACAC government advocacy.
Over the course of the event:
Miss the COVID-19 webinar? Watch it online On March 4, ACAC Registrar Dr. Todd Halowski hosted an information session for ACAC members to help deal with patient questions related to the vaccine as patients become more engaged in the vaccine discussion now that the province has begun the larger population registration for appointments.
Earn CE credits with CCA's free Diversity, Equity and Inclusion training The Canadian Chiropractic Association (CCA) is offering free Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) training worth CE credits. This three-part course will explore a variety of topics including bias, allyship, and tools for change. Sessions will take place on April 7, 14, and 21. Register now to save your spot!
Research: spinal manipulation, medication, or home exercise with advice for acute and subacute neck pain Drs. Bronfort, Evans, Anderson, Svendsen, Bracha, and Grimm conduct a randomized trial to determine the efficacy of spinal manipulation, medication, and home exercise for acute and subacute neck pain in both the short and long term.
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First aid & safety training services inc.
Need to get your standard first aid and CPR-C to renew your license? We offer regularly scheduled classes.
For more information, visit www.safetyclass.ca
[advertisement] Reminder: media calls
Occasionally journalists reach out to members to request an interview or response to a story. The ACAC is prepared to support members through interviews and advise on how best to handle media inquiries.
If you receive a request, please contact Mikiko Van Horn, Senior Public Relations Coordinator, or call 780.420.0932. |