Title: From the Section Chair
Author:
Section/SPIG: Chiropractic Health Care
Issue Date:
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| Dr. John Hyland |
On the Shoulders of Giants
Greetings to all members of the Chiropractic Health Care section from your new chairperson. Thank you for electing me to represent you; I am committed to working to make this an energetic and visible section of the APHA.
First, I want to acknowledge all of the people who have worked hard over the years to bring this section into existence, and to continue its vitality and viability. First as chair-elect, and now as I take over the reins of this small but committed group, I have come to recognize what a debt of gratitude I and the entire chiropractic profession owe to all those who have come before me. Thank you, each and every one.
Next, I want to talk about the upcoming year. As in virtually every endeavor, numbers matter. For us, that always means membership. As you probably know, our representation (and even our continued existence as a section) within APHA is determined by the number of members in our Section. Unfortunately, we have been experiencing a gradual decline over the past few years. I believe this may be my most important job as Section chair – to work to stimulate growth and to ensure continuation. Therefore, one of my first actions as chair was to appoint our chair-elect, Andrew Isaacs, to head an energized Membership Committee. With a combination of experienced and newly committed volunteers, Isaacs will be working to increase our numbers, by retaining current and recruiting new members for the Section.
A theme that is reverberating around our profession currently is “identity.” Likewise, those of us at the business meetings in Washington, D.C., discussed the importance of projecting an identity as a section. We recognized that we are a very diverse group, made up of practitioners, educators, and researchers with a wide variety of personal interests and agendas. However, we agreed that we all value the public health emphasis on prevention, health promotion, and wellness. Our Section will be working to increase awareness in the profession of these concepts.
One important time we’ll be able to do that is during National Public Health Week, which is April 4-10, 2005. This year’s theme is EMPOWERING AMERICANS TO LIVE STRONGER, LONGER, which focuses on healthy aging. We will be encouraging all members to make use of APHA materials in their practices and workplaces to promote better health in the aging population – this is a great tie-in for chiropractic care! In fact, our immediate past-chair, Lisa Killinger, has been involved in some of the planning in her role as our section’s liaison to the APHA’s Task Force on Health Aging.
And finally, this year we will be preparing for our Section’s 10th anniversary celebration! This will be a very important milestone, and hopefully the first of many anniversary celebrations. We plan to use this opportunity to recruit more members, raise our visibility with other APHA sections and members, and look ahead to the increasing acceptance of chiropractic as an important component of the public’s health. Please make plans now to join us in New Orleans, Nov. 5-9, 2005, for the 133rd meeting of APHA and the 10th anniversary of the Chiropractic Health Care Section. I’ll see you there!