Chiropractic educational institutions: Opportunities for social justice

Objective: To describe health care programs for underserved communities provided by chiropractic educational institutions.

Methods: Thirty-six international chiropractic educational institutions were invited to answer an email survey: “Does your clinic system or clinical educational environment offer free chiropractic health care to local communities that are poor (low economic status/poverty) or have special needs (eg, AIDS, abused women, children shelter)? If yes, please list the name and location of the clinic and the special populations served.” Email replies were collected, entered into a spreadsheet, and major themes were identified.

Results: Twenty-five out of 36 institutions responded (69%). All respondents (100%) offered free and/or reduced fee care. The majority worked with interdisciplinary, integrated healthcare environments and/or with the assistance of charity organizations. The special populations most mentioned included: drug/substance abuse, special illnesses (AIDS, chronic pain, etc), women (pregnant, abused), elderly, homeless, disability (physical/mental), children, and aboriginal/minority groups.

Discussion: In areas of poverty, there is often no medical care and little to no access to pharmaceuticals or surgical procedures. It is possible that holistic and/or natural approaches (eg, chiropractic) may join with other ongoing health care efforts to help people in areas of need around the world. These chiropractic programs being offered demonstrate the ability for chiropractic to align with social justice movements and collaborate with other healthcare efforts to help address the world's health care crisis.

Conclusion: This survey demonstrated key characteristics of chiropractic educational institutions offering health care to impoverished areas and special needs populations.