BC Chiropractic Association Public Relations Program Update— Margo Bates Publicity Inc.
We continue to work with health editors and reporters at media outlets throughout British Columbia. A copy of the video, Your Spine, Your Health, was sent to twenty-five health reporters and editorial staff at all television stations in the province, major print outlets and selected radio stations and magazines that carry health-related material. The response was favourable from an educational point of view.
As part of the "code of caution" series of news releases, we issued two over this past quarter: Fight Back Winter Weather (tips for avoiding injury while participating in winter activities, including shovelling) and Hit the Slopes Gently (tips for skiiers and snowboarders). Media outlets in Prince George, Kamloops, Terrace, Dawson Creek and Whistler picked up the story. The tips also appeared in the "Vitality Healthy life news" section of the Vancouver Sun.
BC's Chiropractors continue to lobby crown corporations such as ICBC. In mid-February, we brought to public attention an article that appeared in the autumn 1999 Pain Research & Management, The Journal of the Canadian Pain Society. Authors RW Teasell, MD and H Merskey, MD stated that the Quebec Task Force report was based upon a flawed and overly optimistic picture of the natural history of whiplash disorders, and an arbitrary classification and management system.
ICBC bases its policy for treatment of whiplash disorders on The BC Whiplash Initiative (BCWI), which was designed as a set of educational modules for British Columbia's medical doctors, and relied heavily on research findings from the 1995 Quebec Task Force on whiplash-associated disorders.
According to the British Columbia College of Chiropractors and the BC Chiropractic Association, insurance agents are, in effect making medical decisions. The Chiropractors state that the care of patients must be left to practitioners trained in the most effective treatment of whiplash-associated disorders, not to insurance agents. The Canadian Press picked up the story, which appeared in all media outlets in the province. The news release can be viewed in its entirety on under the News & Views section of this site.
If you have story ideas, please contact us at 604-536-9501.
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