The Council on Chiropractic Practice (CCP) held its annual Board meeting on April 12, 2002 in Washington D.C. The meeting kicked off the next major CCP project, to update and revise its "Clinical Guideline # 1: Vertebral Subluxation in Chiropractic Practice."

According to CCP President Dr. Christopher Kent, "We are excited because we have so much support from the chiropractic profession due to the reputation of the CCP and the work it has done to safeguard subluxation based chiropractic practice."

This support is no doubt due to the openness with which the CCP has operated since its very beginning as it sought to include the chiropractic profession, consumers, educators, researchers and other health care providers in the development of its Guideline. This focus has not changed as the CCP embarks on updating and revising Clinical Guideline Number One.

There was a great deal accomplished during the Annual Board Meeting including the election of Officers and Directors. The CCP Board is now comprised of the following individuals:

Officers:

Board of Directors:

In addition to the election of the Board, a Guidelines Committee was established, a Technique Committee was formed, the Research Committee was expanded and a Credentials Committee was developed.

The Guidelines Committee is responsible for establishing and implementing procedures leading to the development and dissemination of practice guidelines. "This will be the workhorse of the CCP" according to Dr. Kent. "There is a great deal of literature to be gathered and reviewed. Based on the reviews, each of the chapters will be updated as needed and, if necessary, new chapters added. The literature search and review strategy was very broad for the first CCP document since all literature related to subluxation based care needed to be found, reviewed, critiqued and included. The same comprehensive strategy will be used for the updating and revising of the document. In addition to this task, the development of methodology needs to be completed so that the Guidelines Committee will have some structure to its process."

The establishment of the Technique Committee represents a significant step for the CCP to include the various technique developers, experts and practitioners in the guidelines development process.

"The establishment of the technique committee was one of the highlights of the meeting for me" stated Dr. Matthew McCoy, Vice President of the CCP and Chair of the Guidelines Committee. "Chiropractors are getting besieged by state boards, malpractice attorneys and insurance companies for practicing 'unscientific techniques' and it’s about time someone stepped in and organized the body of evidence that exists supporting our techniques."

The effort to include the technique community in such a partnership actually began over a year ago when McCoy began a project in conjunction with the technique community, the CCP, the Journal of Vertebral Subluxation Research, chiropractic colleges and the World Chiropractic Alliance to develop a Compendium of Chiropractic Technique. The work on the compendium will roll into the work to include technique in the Guidelines revision and is seen as a natural marriage.

One of the original goals of the CCP was to develop and fund research projects that supported subluxation-based care, but because the guidelines effort was so critical in the wake of Mercy, the Research Committee did not receive much focus from the Council. It is hoped that this will change with broader involvement on the Committee. And CCP's successful track record of developing a guideline should help. The Research Committee is responsible for establishing research priorities, soliciting and distributing funds for research and providing oversight of research activities.

Another new committee, the Credentials Committee, was also formed, charged with establishing international criteria for the professional practice of chiropractic. It will provide certification for use in jurisdictions in which the practice of chiropractic is legal, but unlicensed by the government. The purpose of the credentials will be to promote safe, high quality delivery of chiropractic care, so as to enhance the health and safety of the public. According to the Chair of the Credentials Committee, Dr. Veronica Gutierrez, "Chiropractic is blossoming throughout the world and there needs to be a mechanism by which appropriately trained practitioners can be credentialed as chiropractors. This will go hand in hand with the introduction of laws which will recognize and regulate chiropractic as a separate and distinct profession."

The Council on Chiropractic Practice was formed in the Summer of 1995 and is an apolitical, non-profit organization. The CCP is not affiliated with any other chiropractic association and represents a grassroots movement to produce practice guidelines which serve the needs of the consumer, and are consistent with "real world" chiropractic practice. The mission of the CCP is "To develop evidence-based guidelines, conduct research and perform other functions that will enhance the practice of chiropractic for the benefit of the consumer."

CCP Treasurer Dr. Terry Rondberg pointed out a major key to the success of the CCP: "The CCP desperately needs financial contributions from the profession. Companies, organizations and individuals that want to support subluxation based chiropractic are encouraged to donate funds. So many individual practitioners and their patients benefited from the protection of the CCP Guidelines -- its time for those who rely on these guidelines to give back."

If you would like to donate funds or participate in any of the projects of the CCP please contact Dr. Matthew McCoy at editor@jvsr.com or call 1 800.347.1011. Donations can be mailed to 2950 N. Dobson Road. Suite 1. Chandler, AZ 85224.

Each of the following Committees is responsible to the Board of Directors of the Council on Chiropractic Practice.

The Guidelines Committee:

The Technique Committee:

The Research Committee: