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Newsletter of the European Chiropractors’ Union
Covid-19
executive members, three other
AEQ members, a medical doctor,
a researcher, and a representative
of chiropractic patients. A
ChiroSuisse taskforce met daily.
Surveys of members in Belgium
and Norway produced approval
ratings of 90% for how the
associations helped their members.
Safety
Initially at least, the shortage of
personal protective equipment
(PPE) was a significant barrier to
offering even acute care. Belgium
and France dipped into reserves
to source an initial supply of PPE
for members – and the BCU
continues to purchase surgical and
FFP2 masks to be made available
to its members at cost price.
Other associations, including
Spain and Germany, circulated
lists of suppliers whilst respecting
government requests not to
jeopardise supplies to those in the
covid front line.
Screening of patients before
accepting appointments,
maintaining adequate social
distancing between patients,
controlling the numbers in waiting
rooms and frequent use of hand
gel or hand washing have become
quite normal. In Great Britain
advice to leave a 15-minute gap
between patients in a treatment
room is severely reducing the
capacity of those clinics that
follow the advice. In other
countries the requirements are less
extreme, and a German laboratory
has recently reported favourably
on a one-time spray coating of
surfaces that offers a 12-month
protection against the virus.
The President of the German
association describes a typical
setup: “Signs are up on front
doors, receptionists screen during
phone calls for relevant symptoms,
the demand for overpriced
disinfectant has skyrocketed.
Door handles are disinfected on
a regular basis, chiropractors’
hands are disinfected more than
skin can handle. Waiting times
are minimised, chairs in waiting
rooms are removed, chiropractors
wear facemasks, some even face
shields… the list goes on.”
Nevertheless, by August many
associations were reporting strong
demand for chiropractic care.
Belgium and Switzerland were
estimated to be back to 80%
activity, Italy was back to 75%
within a week, Denmark reports
higher-than-ever bookings. In
the Netherlands, NCA members,
along with those in some other
countries, report that they are
working longer hours and there
have been few if any bankruptcies.
In Britain the demand appears
to have rebounded strongly
and clinics have resumed
advertising for associates, but
the recommended hygiene
requirements have seriously
reduced capacity.
Looking to the future
– innovation and
resilience
Whereas the take-up of
teleconferencing has been
largely universal across Europe
(including an Annual General
Meeting attended by 240 people
in Spain), the take-up of teleconsultation
has been mixed and
there are different views on how
far this innovation will persist.
The Scandinavian chiropractors
have found patient resistance
to be high, making it harder to
justify the investment required in
clinics. By contrast, in Ireland two
of the three main insurers have
agreed to reimburse patients for
tele-consultations, and in Belgium
chiropractors are using Physitrack
to create exercise programmes for
patients and to observe how they
carry out the exercises. In England
at least one progressive clinician
has used Slack to maintain contact
with patients. Across the board,
there are reports of widespread
satisfactory tele-consultations
involving family doctors which
are delivering significant
improvements in efficiency and
time management.
The rapid and agile adjustment
required to digest and act on
changing requirements from
the health authorities – in some
cases involving 350 – 400 pages
of government instructions each
week – needs to be replicated
in response to changing market
circumstances. Where chiropractic
is unregulated, there are reports
of increased competition from
other professions. Looked at
from a patient perspective,
aspects of diagnosis and advice
on exercise, nutrition and lifestyle
are seemingly well-suited to teleconsultation.
Also, contact with
existing patients during lockdown
has highlighted the importance
to patients of reassurance. How
to monetise this technological
innovation remains to be solved.
Advances in communication
with public health authorities
must not be allowed to slip back.
As Espen Ohren (president of
the NKF) says: “The more that
the authorities know about us,
understand the contribution
chiropractic makes to lifting the
burden on doctors and hospitals,
and hear about the success of
chiropractic care in enabling
people with low-back pain to
continue to be actively employed,
the less likely they are to close us
down when, inevitably, there are
future pandemics or subsequent
waves of the covid threat.”
Steffen Stumpp of the German
Chiropractors’ Association advises:
“Talk about health solutions not
surveillance and apps; be calm
and do not add to the inevitable
confusion.” Nor should we ignore
that chiropractors are individuals
too, with fears, anxieties and
susceptibilities to stress. It is
now recognised that sad things
happen in hospitals and that
hospital doctors can suffer from
post-traumatic stress requiring
counselling. In the words of the
Gospel according to St Luke:
“Physician, heal thyself.”
ECU Humanitarian Award
In 2016 the ECU announced a
new award – for outstanding
humanitarian work by a chiropractor
in the field. To date three such
awards have been made:
• Bélen Sunyer for chiropractic
care for the homeless and
refugees in Madrid.
• Dinos Ramon for care in the
refugee camps for people
displaced by the Turkish invasion
of Cyprus in 1974
• Sven Boehne of the AIC for his
on-site pro-bono care of the first
responders following the Italian
earthquakes in central Italy in
2016.
There have been many heroes during the Covid-19 pandemic. If you
know of a chiropractor who has used their professional knowledge,
skills and competence to do something extraordinary for the
community, please let us know at info@chriropractic-ecu.org by
sending a citation describing their efforts and the contribution made.
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