The proceedings of a consensus conference commissioned by the Canadian Chiropractic Association (April 3-7, 1993) has been published as the Clinical Guidelines for Chiropractic Practice in Canada.
The document was developed with the guidance of a nine-member steering committee chaired by Donald Henderson, DC, DACBR, a consensus commission of 35 Canadian chiropractors, a 22-member group of international consultants (21 of which were DCs), and a review group of another 22 Canadian DCs. The conference was held at the Glenerin Inn in Mississauga, Ontario.
On November 19, 1993, the Canadian Chiropractic Association Board of Governors unanimously accepted and adopted these practice guidelines.
William Johnstone, DC, president of the Canadian Chiropractic Association expressed the "need to review and, when necessary, modify guideline statements based on the availability of new information, clinical research, and changing consensus."
These clinical guidelines are designed to provide an "analytical framework for the evaluation and treatment of common clinical problems," states the general disclaimer of the document. It states further: "These guidelines are not intended to replace a clinician's clinical judgment or to establish the only appropriate approach for all patients. They are intended to be flexible. They are not standards of care."
The guidelines were funded by the Canadian Chiropractic Association and the Canadian Chiropractic Protective Assoc. Sponsoring organizations included Canadian associations from Quebec, British Columbia, Saskatchewan, Alberta, Manitoba, New Brunswick, Newfoundland and Labrador, Nova Scotia, Ontario, and Prince Edward. The Canadian Chiropractic Examining Board and the Canadian Federation of Chiropractic Regulatory Boards also sponsored the endeavor.
Chairman Donald Henderson states in his preface that the Guidelines for Chiropractic Quality Assurance and Practice Parameters, aka the Mercy document, "provided a wealth of resource material for the CCA Commisson's consideration. Indeed with minor revision and permission, some of the chapters have been reproduced within this document. Further, the consensus method used at the Mercy Conference served as a model for the Canadian conference."
Editor's note: Clinical Guidelines for Chiropractic Practice in Canada are available from the Canadian Chiropractic Association at $35 (in the currency of your country) including GST (where applicable), shipping and handling. Contact the Canadian Chiropractic Assoc. at 1396 Eglinton Ave. West, Toronto, Ontario, M6C 2E4. Tel: 416-781-5656. Fax: 416-781-7344.
When I graduated from chiropractic college in 1981 and started practice, I heard it all, and very little was positive. “You are a quack; you do not know what a subluxation is; you couldn’t get into a real health care program, so you chose the one that is slightly above a mail-order degree; you have no proof that chiropractic works; Are you really licensed?”, and so much more.
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