APHA Opioid Abuse Guidelines Advocate Conservative Care
Dynamic Chiropractic Staff
"Prevention and Intervention Strategies to Decrease Misuse of Prescription Pain Medications," one of 18 new policy statements adopted during the American Public Health Association's Annual Meeting and Exposition last month, includes recommendations advocating the use of nondrug complementary and integrative therapies. APHA Policy 20154 "urges public health and public policy education programs to prioritize and implement evidence-based community and provider training programs on mental health, non-pharmacological pain treatment alternatives, substance abuse and overdose prevention"; while a second resolution "urges prescription providers to be educated on identifying and treating pain with alternative modalities, and to coordinate pain management with complementary and integrative care providers."
The Chiropractic Health Care section of the APHA advocated for inclusion of the recommendations regarding complementary and integrative therapies, in collaboration with policy authors from the Public Health Nursing section. As Michele Maiers, DC, MPH, PhD, who spearheaded the CHC section's efforts, explained:
"The Public Health Nursing section advanced important policy to stem opioid abuse through recommendations to prescribers and public education campaigns. "They welcomed suggestions made by the Chiropractic Health Care section to include greater collaboration of care giving with complementary and integrative providers. This policy supports team-based care that gives patients more options when choosing a pain management strategy."
To learn more about the APHA's Chiropractic Health Care section, click here
Building on a historic March 2026 meeting between Make America Healthy Again and chiropractic leadership, MAHA has announced the launch of the MAHA Chiropractic Hub, “a coordinated national partnership uniting MAHA Center, MAHA Action, and the chiropractic profession, including national associations, state organizations, practitioners, educators, researchers, and patient advocates. The Chiropractic Hub will advance federal policy, expand patient access, and build broad public support for chiropractic care across America.”
The chiropractic profession is confronting one of the most significant federal regulatory threats it has faced in decades. A new U.S. Department of Education (ED) accountability framework – commonly referred to as the “Do No Harm” (DNH) regulation – could place many chiropractic programs at risk of losing access to federal financial aid (student loans), potentially reshaping the future of chiropractic education and workforce development across the United States.
Pain has become the dominant language of musculoskeletal healthcare. Numeric pain-rating scales and symptom reports are routinely used as primary indicators of clinical success. But while pain reduction is meaningful, it is an incomplete and often misleading representation of recovery. This has real consequences for patient adherence, long-term outcomes, and how conservative care is perceived within the broader healthcare system.
