President's Report

Peter Werth BAppSc(Chiro).

For most of us the festive season has faded into a distant memory and the year has already gained momentum the year ahead proving to be a busy one for COCA.

This edition’s editors column has highlighted an area that I believe is somewhat neglected within chiropractic and osteopathy. This being the importance of the consultation and what entails a good consultation. Recent evidence has identified the importance of addressing the broader issues other than the patient’s presenting symptoms. This approach has been termed the patient-centred approach. The focus of the consultation should address the patient’s needs. These can be quite varied. Apart from providing hands-on treatment, efforts should be made to address the concerns of the patient. This may include providing education regarding the nature of the condition, relevant self management and coping strategies that can be employed as well as observing for signs of distress and anxiety. These are just a few of the elements that could be addressed during the consultation. The patient-centred approach promotes strategies that enable the patient to better deal with their condition and its sequelae. This approach naturally differs from the practitioner-centred approach which promotes reliance on the interventions of the practitioner to provide the main thrust (pardon the pun) of management, with little if any understanding or involvement on the patient’s behalf. This latter approach has definitely been the focus of many practitioners in the past, and is especially relevant to the practitioners who provide manual treatment, such as chiropractors and osteopaths, where a mechanical problem such as back pain, will receive a mechanical/manual intervention (at times excessively) with little if any attempt to educate or assist in developing strategies to empower the patient to assist them manage their condition. This model has certainly become outdated, and in an era of well informed patients, the practitioner-centred approach in most instances serves the practitioner’s interests ahead of the patient’s.

This patient-centred approach was highlighted at the one day workshop with Dr Craig Liebenson in Melbourne last year, and following on from the success of that workshop Dr Liebenson has kindly agreed to return to Australia to be our keynote speaker at this year’s 7th Biennial Conference in Sydney from 7 to 9 September 2007.

The feedback after the workshop was very positive with comments regarding the Monday morning relevance being highlighted. Dr Liebenson is to present another one day workshop on Friday 7 September.

The general theme of the conference is the Patient-Centred Approach with Dr Liebenson and other speakers addressing aspects of management associated with the active management paradigm and patient-centred care.

The conference will again also provide a forum for the researchers to present their work both via podium and poster presentations. In previous years the standard of presentation has been high, with each year seeing the emergence of exciting new researchers having the opportunity to present their work to their peers. This in conjunction with more established researchers has highlighted the excellent chiropractic and osteopathic research being undertaken in Australia. I have no doubt the bar will again be raised this year.

I would recommend that you mark your diaries now and watch for further details of the conference shortly.

Over recent months COCA has undertaken market research via DK Consulting to assist in determining the ways that we can best meet the needs of our members and to incorporate these needs into our planning. The feedback we have received was generally very positive. Aspects such as clinically relevant conference and seminar topics as well as catering to regional practitioners’ educational needs were some of the areas identified in the market research, and as such will be providing a focus for our planning. As you can see from the forthcoming conference there will again be a “Monday-morning” emphasis with the workshop conducted by Dr Liebenson. Other speakers on the program will also explore means by which chiropractors and osteopaths can address their patients’ needs by incorporating aspects associated with the patient-centred approach.

The COCA website is also undergoing a major overhaul which will provide a new look and also expand on the online services available for members. This will include access to secure online registration for events and for the purchase of distance education material. The new website will also provide access to new and specially developed distance education modules to assist practitioners remain up to date with their educational needs. The new website will give you access to modules such as the recent Risk Management III module on vertebro-basilar accidents which has proved to be very successful and is already available free online to COCA members. A second module on Current Psychosocial Theories and Interventions For Chiropractors and Osteopaths has been developed by our COCA News Editor Dr Stan Innes, who as many of you would know, is also qualified as a clinical psychologist. This module is extremely useful clinically and incorporates aspects of the biopsychosocial approach that are of particular relevance to chiropractors and osteopaths in practice. It is due for release in April.

Other distance education modules are also in the pipeline for the second half of 2007 and 2008. This broadening of COCA’s online services represents an exciting new aspect of COCA’s educational services. Watch out for the announcement of the new website over the next couple of months.

If you were not contacted recently by DK Consulting regarding COCA’s market research, but have views regarding COCA and its services please feel free to contact me via email on peter.werth@coca.com.au. We are always keen to hear people’s views of the job we do and how we can improve what we do.

The year ahead should be very exciting and productive. I hope that you will be involved and benefit from what COCA has to offer this year.