Public Health Competencies for Chiropractic Programs

Abstract

The public health contribution of various health care professions is shaped by their education and areas of expertise. Growing recognition of musculoskeletal pain as a top driver of health care expenses and of back pain as the leading cause of years lived with disability suggest a greater public health role for the chiropractic profession in the United States and globally. There is little consensus on the depth or breadth of public health competencies within doctor of chiropractic programs that would optimize public health awareness and advocacy by chiropractic practitioners. Building on public health competencies published by other health care professions, an iterative consensus building process with chiropractic professional and educational leaders was used to generate a core set of public health competencies for the chiropractic profession. Sixteen competencies in four domains were developed and agreed to as necessary for chiropractors to more fully support the public health of the communities they serve and are being incorporated across chiropractic academic entities.

Evaluating a service-learning assignment in a doctor of chiropractic program public health course

“…Students' public health knowledge reflected in these essays addresses the public health competencies involving basic understanding of public health systems and identifying strategies that may improve community health. 8 In addition, students met other competencies by defining levels of prevention and explaining determinants of health, including social determinants. Some students gained skills and made connections with the community to help bridge chiropractic and public health; this addresses an additional competency of describing the complementary roles between these 2 professions.…”

“…Some students gained skills and made connections with the community to help bridge chiropractic and public health; this addresses an additional competency of describing the complementary roles between these 2 professions. 8 Of note, a majority of the students (70%) went beyond discussing knowledge gained from this assignment and described the impact of their experience on their personal growth.…”

“…This assignment could potentially meet several of the public health competencies outlined for DCPs at the 2018 annual meeting of the American Public Health Association (APHA), including ''Demonstrate a basic understanding of the public health systems that exist on local, national, and global levels, especially with regard to organizations, workforce, and financing'' and ''Identify public engagement strategies that may be used to improve the health of communities and contribute to the reduction of health disparities, recognizing community assets and resources.'' 8 The purpose of this study is to formally evaluate the student essays and identify how this assignment changes students' public health knowledge and attitudes.…”

Incorporating Complementary and Integrative Health Providers in the Public Health Pandemic Response: Lessons from COVID-19 and Recommendations for the Future from a Multidisciplinary Expert Panel

“…While it is not standard, some CIH providers already receive basic public health training, 74 and some CIH institutions offer an MPH degree. 78 Curricula for teaching public health concepts to CIH providers, such as chiropractors, have been developed 79,80 and evaluated. 37,38 The need for more comprehensive basic public health education for all CIH trainees has been discussed in prior literature.…”

Message From the Editor-in-Chief: Pedagogy for a Pandemic and Beyond

“…Interprofessional training in population health helps break down disciplinary silos and promote teamwork across the health professions (Rhodes et al, 2020). Chiropractors and pharmacists are essential community health care providers and can better serve their communities with training in public health and health promotion (Madigan et al, 2020; Oseni & Afolabi, 2020). Community navigators play a critical role in Affordable Care Act insurance enrollment in the United States, and thus serve as important community health care workers.…”