Over the weekend of 14th-15th September, 60 PhD researchers with special interest in the areas of MSK health and chiropractic met at Canadian Memorial Chiropractic College (CMCC) in Toronto. Their aim was to 
develop evidence-based patient-centred policy recommendations for use in informing patients, public, and policymakers about the effectiveness of spinal manipulation to prevent or treat non-musculoskeletal disorders.
The UK was well represented by Alister Du Rose (WIOC) and Prof. David Newell (AECC University College) who sat alongside colleagues including Profs. Jan Hartvisen, Greg Kawchuk and Pierre Cote.
30 political leaders from across the worldwide chiropractic profession were invited to observe this process and to discuss the implications of this review how we might best communicate research findings in the future. BCA President, Catherine Quinn was pleased to represent the UK chiropractic profession in these discussions alongside, Vivian Kil and Richard Brown (WFC), Vasileios Gkolfinopoulos (ECU) and multiple European National Association Presidents.
After a variety of presentations from the lead researchers including updates on the frequency of chiropractic patients seeking care for non-musculoskeletal conditions from Iben Axen and the role of a systematic review from Prof. Ian Coulter, the 60 researchers were split into groups to appraise the hundreds of research papers covering a wide assortment of non-MSK conditions and the impact of spinal manipulation on these. After observing the process, Catherine Quinn commented, “Chiropractors offer a varied package of care to their patients, including manual therapy, exercise, self-management advice, and utilise psychologically-informed programmes of care. Spinal manipulation often forms a significant but not exclusive part of the manual therapy offered. It was a great privilege to be given an inside view of the robust process under which the researchers operate to ensure that the findings of their review will hold robust scientific scrutiny. The BCA is proud to endorse the #BeEPIC strategy of the WFC and proceedings like this truly cement our support for the initiative. We must continue to commit to and operate within these principals to safeguard the future and further advancement of chiropractic.”
The researchers divided into six groups and performed almost 30 hours of discussion, evaluation and appraisal of the papers in primary, secondary and tertiary care leading to recommendations being presented to the full assembly. The BCA thanks the organising committee for creating such an innovative and inclusive event for the chiropractic profession.
The results of this weekend will be published in the coming months.
More information
What does EPIC stand for?
The abbreviation EPIC stands for Evidence-based, People-centred, Interprofessional, Collaborative
The EPIC strategy was first used at the 2019 joint convention of the European Chiropractors’ Union (ECU) and the World Federation of Chiropractic (WFC) to describe their future direction for chiropractic. The BCA proudly endorses this strategy.
The BCA on a European and International stage
The BCA takes action to ensure the development of chiropractic across the globe, which is why we were a founding member of the ECU and subsequently the WFC. In doing so, we protect the future of our members in the UK.
