The First National Symposium on Complementary and Alternative Geriatric Health Care will convene April 29-30 on the campus of Logan College of Chiropractic in Chesterfield, Missouri. The symposium, made possible by a federal grant to the Missouri Gateway Geriatric Education Center, is being held in conjunction with the annual meeting of the Geriatric Research Education and Clinical Center. The symposium is expected to draw a broad range of health providers: DCs; MDs; DOs; PTs; acupuncturists; clinical psychologists; and nurses.
The keynote speaker is Candace Pert,PhD, a research professor in the department of physiology and biophysics at Georgetown University Medical Center in Washington, D.C. Dr. Pert has been featured on Bill Moyers' PBS special "Healing and the Mind" and has published more than 200 scientific papers. Over the course of 25 years, Dr. Pert has researched the information-carrying molecules known as peptides and their cellular receptors, which govern every system of the body. Her book, Molecules of Emotion - Why You Feel the Way You Feel (Scribner, 1997) describes this activity as a dynamic information flow in our psychosomatic network that integrates our physiology and is the biological foundation of our mind and emotions.
"We know that the immune system, like the central nervous system, has memory and the capacity to learn," notes Dr. Pert. "It can be said that our intelligence is located not only in the brain, but in cells throughout the body and that the traditional separation of mind and emotions from the body is no longer valid."
The keynote speaker for the chiropractic track is Robert Mootz,DC, associate medical director for chiropractic for the Washington Department of Labor and Industries, the first position of its kind held by a chiropractic physician. Dr. Mootz is on the advisory board of the National Institutes for Health Consortial Center for Chiropractic Research, and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services planning committee for the development of a national chiropractic research agenda.
Dr. Mootz is the editor of Topics in Clinical Chiropractic and is co-editor and author of Chiropractic in the United States: Training, Practice and Research, a publication of the Agency for Health Care Policy and Research. A former professor at Palmer College of Chiropractic West, Dr. Mootz's publications include an upcoming text on the role of chiropractic methods in occupational health. He has co-edited and co-authored several texts, including: Chiropractic Care of Special Populations, Sports Chiropractic, Chiropractic Technologies, and a monograph on the appropriateness of cervical spine manipulation published by the RAND Corporation. His current research projects include evaluation and reimbursement for chiropractic services, disability prevention and occupational health services delivery, and a National Ambulatory Medical Care survey on complementary and alternative medicine providers.
Ian Coulter,PhD, who has published many articles on the sociological aspects of health care delivery, the comparison of dentistry, chiropractic and medical education, and the appropriateness of chiropractic therapies, will speak about what is on the horizon for complementary and alternative health care. Dr. Coulter, past president of the Canadian Memorial Chiropractic College (1982-1991), is a professor in the school of dentistry at UCLA and a health staff member of the RAND Corporation. Dr. Coulter holds degrees in sociology from the University of Canterbury and the London School of Economics and Political Science.
Mark Messina,PhD, the keynote speaker for the clinical nutrition track, was program director in the Diet and Cancer Branch of the National Cancer Institute in the National Institutes of Health from 1987 to 1992. His role at NIH was to identify research needs in the area of diet and cancer prevention and make recommendations for government funding of research projects. Dr. Messina organized and chaired the first two international symposiums on the role of soy in preventing and treating chronic disease.
Beverly Rubik,PhD, will speak on energy medicine and bioelectromagnetics, an emerging science that studies the effects of electromagnetic fields. Dr. Rubik, a visiting assistant professor at the University of Arizona College of Medicine in Tucson and president and founder of the Institute for Frontier Science, will offer some specific examples of devices that exist or are under development for bone and soft-tissue regeneration, pain control, accelerated healing and mood and sleep disorders.
Following the speakers, an expert faculty drawn from the fields of chiropractic, medicine, physical therapy and psychology will conduct workshops on such diverse topics as low-force spinal manipulation; rehabilitation; herbology; magnetotherapy; anti-aging effects of meditation; electroacupuncture; and auriculotherapy.
Dr. John Morley, an internationally noted geriatrician, will address geriatric malnutrition and cognitive assessment in two workshops.
Other symposium highlights include an Internet videoconference lecture of the keynote address by Dr. Pert. In addition, the Logan Student Computer Lab will serve as a learning resource throughout the weekend for Web-based information on geriatric health care issues.
For information concerning registration or other questions, contact symposium chairperson Norman Kettner, DC, or Erica Collier at (636) 227-0903, (800) 782-3344, ext. 229, or by e-mail at kettner@logan.edu.
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