News / Publications

January 15, 2019

For immediate release

PRESS RELEASE

Professor Greg Kawchuk has been re-appointed as Chair of the World Federation of Chiropractic’s Research Committee.

As Chair of the Research Committee since 2015, Dr Kawchuk (pictured, right) leads a team of leading international experts that serves to advise the WFC Council on matters of science and research.

WFC President, Dr Laurie Tassell said of the re-appointment, “Dr Kawchuk is an outstanding ambassador for the WFC and for chiropractic. The Council is delighted to re-appoint him for a second term of office and looks forward to the Research Committee continuing to support the work of the WFC. The World Federation strongly endorses an evidence-based, patient-centered, interprofessional and collaborative approach in chiropractic. The role of the Research Committee is integral to advancing this model by informing Council’s decision-making and maintaining its knowledge of existing and emerging scientific literature.”

Dr Kawchuk, a 1990 graduate of Canadian Memorial Chiropractic College (CMCC), was awarded his PhD in Bioengineering from the University of Calgary in 2000. He holds the title of Professor of Rehabilitation Medicine in the Faculty of Physical Therapy at the University of Alberta. He also holds adjunct positions at the University of Southern Denmark and at CMCC.

Dr Kawchuk is also one of the founders of the Chiropractic Academy of Research Leadership (CARL), an initiative that supports early career researchers around the world.

Speaking after his re-appointment was confirmed, Dr Kawchuk said, “I would like to thank the WFC for placing its trust in me to lead the Research Committee for a further 4 years. It will be an exciting time for the chiropractic profession as it furthers its commitment to evidence-based, patient-centered care. As well as coordinating the WFC Suggested Reading List for Chiropractic, my committee is pleased to coordinate the scientific component of the WFC’s Biennial Congress, the largest showcase in the world for chiropractic research. As knowledge continues to evolve, the Research Committee looks forward to supporting the WFC leadership in its important work."

October 15, 2018

Contact:                   Richard Brown
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Media interviews:     Richard Brown

PRESS RELEASE

2018 World Spine Day stresses importance of self-help for back pain

Tuesday, October 16 marks the annual World Spine Day. Organised by the World Federation of Chiropractic on behalf of the Global Alliance for Musculoskeletal Health, World Spine Day highlights the global burden of spinal pain and disability. This year’s theme, Love Your Spine, emphasises the importance of self-help in the management of back pain.

Low back pain is the biggest single global cause of years lived with disability. At any time, it is estimated that over 1 billion people around the world are suffering with low back pain, with 4 out of 5 adults experiencing at least one disabling episode during their lives. It can profoundly affect work life, home life and social life, and low back pain can lead to other health issues.  People suffering with persistent back pain are three times as likely to suffer mental health issues such as depression.

This year’s World Spine Day focuses on how people can look after their spine and help prevent episodes of back pain. Under 1% of all back pain is caused by serious underlying problems, such as cancer and infection, yet people are often fearful of exercise and daily activities because they think it will make their condition worse. This is a myth, says World Spine Day Global Coordinator, Dr Robyn Brown.

“The old-fashioned advice to rest or lie on a board has never been supported by evidence, To the contrary, prolonged rest can often lead to muscle wasting and stiffness and make the problem worse. People with back pain need to know that in the vast majority of cases, getting out, moving and continuing to live a normal life is the best treatment.”

Evidence has shown that low back pain can affect people across the life course, from schoolchildren to the elderly. A long term study in Denmark involving 1400 schoolchildren showed that over a 3 year period 55% of schoolchildren aged 5-15 suffered at least one episode of spinal pain. Although this was usually short-lived and trivial, one in five children was found to be suffering with three or more episodes per year.  Seventeen (17%) percent of episodes lasted more than 4 weeks. Worryingly, child back pain sufferers are more likely to become adult back pain sufferers.

World Spine Day reaches around the globe and has attracted over 500 partner organizations globally, from hospitals and clinics to schools to government agencies, all committed to raising awareness and educating the public. On World Spine Day, activities will take place around the globe to engage people around the #LoveYourSpine theme.

Earlier this year, The Lancet published a series of papers on low back pain. The papers were picked up by media around the world, and resulted in an explosion of social media attention, with over 15 million tweets alone. The findings of the authors were stark -  disability due to low back pain has increased by over 50% since 1990, especially in low and middle-income countries – yet access to effective services remains poor and many myths and misconceptions remain.

Dr Brown adds: “We know that back pain is complex and that it’s not just made worse by physical factors. Attitudes and anxiety around back pain as well as social factors also play a part. We call this the biopsychosocial model of back pain. One of the biggest challenges we face is that other than in a small proportion of cases it’s not possible to identify exactly what’s causing the pain.”

So who is most vulnerable to back pain?

“We do know that certain groups are more likely to report low back pain than others,” continues Dr Brown. “People with physically demanding jobs, people who have other physical and mental health issues, smokers and obese people are at the greatest risk of reporting low back pain.”

How do we prevent back pain and best advise people how to #LoveYourSpine?
The latest and best evidence does not support the use of drugs and surgery. The Lancet papers Recommend not recommended. The Lancet papers recommend education and self management strategies. Advice to get back to normal activities as quickly as possible and to exercise was seen to be most effective with psychological programs added to those with persistent symptoms.

The guidelines recommend limited use of medication, surgery and imaging, such as x-ray and MRI. In particular, inappropriate use of opioids and spinal injections for back pain came in for strong criticism.

Dr Brown says: “The most effective strategies are those that get people back to work early and educate them about the reality of back pain, that movement is medicine and that effective collaborations between patients and their health care teams of spine care professionals work best. See someone who will help you to help yourself ”

Notes for Editors
1.    Dr Robyn Brown is a medical doctor, currently working in the trauma and orthopaedics department at Gloucestershire Royal Hospital in the United Kingdom. She has been the Global Coordinator for World Spine Day since 2016.
2.    The World Federation of Chiropractic (www.wfc.org) is a global, not-for-profit, non-governmental organisation headquartered in Toronto, Canada. It has over 90 country members in 7 world regions and is in official relations with the World Health Organization.
3.    The Global Alliance for Musculoskeletal Health (www.bjdonline.org)  is a non-governmental organisation focused on highlighting the burden of musculoskeletal disorders around the world.
4.    The Lancet series of low back pain papers can be accessed at https://www.thelancet.com/series/low-back-pain

Ends

June 26, 2018

TORONTO, June 27, 2018. Australian chiropractor, Professor Simon French, has been named as the newest member of the World Federation of Chiropractic’s Research Committee.

Dr French’s appointment follows a global search that attracted high quality candidates from around the world.

A 1993 graduate of the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (RMIT), Dr French practised as a chiropractor for ten years, gaining a Masters in Public Health along the way, before pursuing a PhD at the School of Public Health and Preventative Medicine at Monash University, Victoria. His work involved developing and testing complex interventions for improving the use of evidence in clinical practice, specifically as it related to low back pain in general practice.

Dr French worked as a Senior Research Fellow with the prestigious Australasian Cochrane Centre as well as at the Primary Care Research Unit at the University of Melbourne.

In 2013, Dr French was named as the recipient of the Canadian Chiropractic Research Foundation Professorship in Rehabilitation Therapy at Queen’s University in Ontario, Canada. During his time in Canada, Dr French was also named as a member of the Low Back Pain Quality Standard Advisory Committee for Health Quality Canada.

Dr French returned to Australia in 2018 to commence a position at Macquarie University’s Department of Chiropractic. His appointment at Macquarie represents a very significant step forward for chiropractic in Australia and further develops the university's strong commitment to research and innovation.

As the Research Council’s newest member, Dr French brings an impressive track record of high value research grants, committee representation, and collaborations with world-renowned musculoskeletal researchers.

Speaking after his appointment, Dr French said, “I am grateful for the opportunity to work with the Research Committee and the confidence that the WFC has placed in me. I’m looking forward to getting down to work with this world-class group of research colleagues.”

Chair of the Research Committee, Professor Greg Kawchuk, commented: “"All of us on the Research Committee are excited to welcome Dr French to the team. Simon's experience as a scientist, journal editor and most recently, head of research of the Department of Chiropractic at Macquarie University, expands the breadth of our committee and allows us to advocate for the profession in exciting new ways."

The WFC Research Committee comprises researchers from many of its world regions. They work in a range of settings, including biomechanics, musculoskeletal pain, knowledge translation, quality, and basic science. Its Chair is Dr Greg Kawchuk, Professor of Rehabilitation at the University of Alberta, Canada.

June 5, 2018

TORONTO, June 5, 2018: The World Federation of Chiropractic (WFC) is amongst 14 international organizations that have come together to found the new Global Rehabilitation Alliance (GRA), with chiropractor and epidemiologist Professor Pierre Côté being elected to the Board. .

The GRA is an initiative of the World Health Organization (WHO) and arose out of a high-level meeting, Rehabilitation 2030: A Call To Action that took place in February 2017. WFC Disability and Rehabilitation Committee Chair, Professor Pierre Côté and Secretary-General Dr Richard Brown were in attendance at this meeting and contributed in drafting a formal statement of support for the WHO on behalf of the global health professions.

Following a number of meetings and the drafting of a White Paper setting out the aims and objectives of the new alliance, the formal launch of the GRA took place at the International Committee of the Red Cross Headquarters in Geneva during the week of the World Health Assembly.

At its inaugural meeting, Professor Côté was elected to the Board. As well as holding the federally-funded Canada Research Chair in Disability Prevention and Rehabilitation, Professor Côté holds positions at the University of Ontario Institute of Technology (UOIT) and at the Canadian Memorial Chiropractic College (CMCC), where he heads the UOIT-CMCC Centre for Disability Prevention and Rehabilitation.

The aims of the GRA are to advocate for rehabilitation services around the world and to strengthen the role of rehabilitation in health and social systems around the world. The GRA will aim to further the efforts of existing rehabilitation organizations by building and strengthening networks and partnerships. It will work with WHO as a strategic partner to advocate for quality, co-ordinated and accessible rehabilitation services.

According to WHO, only 10 people per million population in the world currently has access to skilled rehabilitation services. It is also known that 74% of the total years lived with disability in the world are living with conditions for which rehabilitation is beneficial. With a 23% increase in prevalence of health conditions with severe disability, there is a large unmet need in low- and middle-income countries, the need for a dedicated focus on rehabilitation workers is critical.

Speaking on his appointment to the GRA, Professor Côté commented: “The founding of this important alliance comes at an important time. I am honoured and privileged to have been elected by the founder members of the GRA to sit on its Board and look forward to contributing to coordination of advocacy work in this area of global health. As an epidemiologist, I am all too aware of the catastrophic global impact of disability and the GRA’s advocacy efforts will make a key contribution towards supporting WHO’s commitment to the UN Sustainable Development Goals ”

WFC Secretary-General Dr Richard Brown said: “As primary contact health professionals, chiropractors can take a leading role in rehabilitation and disability prevention. With low back pain the leading global cause of years lived with disability, chiropractors have an opportunity to actively engage in rehabilitation. In addition, collaborating with other organizations and forming strategic partnerships will greatly increase the role our Constituent Member nationals associations can play.”

Inaugural Board of the Global Rehabilitation Alliance

Board members, Global Rehabilitation Alliance
Left to right: Pierre Côté, Jan Monsbakken, Karsten Dreinhofer, Emma Stokes, Thierry Regenass, Christoph Gutenbrunner, Isabelle Urseau, Stephanie Clarke.

Founder Members of the Global Rehabilitation Alliance

• American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA)
• Dementia Alliance International
• Global Alliance for Musculoskeletal Health (GMusc)
• Humanity & Inclusion (HI)
• International Council of Nurses (ICN)
• International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC)
• ICRC MoveAbility Foundation
• International Society for Prosthetics and Orthotics (ISPO)
• International Society of Physical and Rehabilitation Medicine (ISPRM)
• International Spinal Cord Society (ISCoS)
• World Confederation for Physical Therapy (WCPT)
• World Federation for NeuroRehabilitation (WFNR)
• World Federation for Occupational Therapy (WFOT)
• World Federation of Chiropractic (WFC)

About the WFC

The World Federation of Chiropractic (WFC) is a worldwide, not-for-profit organization which serves as the global voice of the chiropractic profession. Its members are the national associations of chiropractors in over 90 countries worldwide. In addition, its non-voting association members include chiropractic educational institutions, corporate partners and individual supporters. Since 1997, the WFC has been an non-governmental organization in official relations with the World Health Organization (WHO). Its headquarters are in Toronto, Canada.   

July 5, 2017

Professor Martin Descarreaux has been announced as the newest member of the WFC Research Council.

Dr. Descarreaux graduated from the UQTR’s first cohort of the chiropractic program in 1998, and completed a PhD in kinesiology at the Université Laval 6 years later.

He is now a full professor at UQTR in the Department of Human Kinetics and is a visiting professor at the Institut Franco-Européen de Chiropraxie (Paris and Toulouse) and at the Paris-Sud University’s Faculty of sports sciences.

His current research projects involve the characterization of the neurophysiological and biomechanical effects of spinal manipulation, the various effects of pain and pain-related psychological components on trunk neuromuscular strategies, as well as motor learning of spinal manipulation. In the past five years alone, Dr Descarreaux has been a primary or named author in over 60 published papers.

Over the years, he has developed several strategies to better integrate motor learning principles, which have been shared with students, professors and those responsible for clinical training within chiropractic teaching institutions not only in Canada, but also in Europe.

He is currently the Director of the Groupe de recherche sur les affections neuromusculosquelettiques (Research Group on neuromusculoskeletal disorders) at UQTR.

Chair of the WFC Research Council, Professor Greg Kawchuk commented: "On behalf of the Research
Council, I would like to welcome Dr. Descarreaux as our newest member. Martin's prior experience as a judge at many WFC events combined with his research record as a full professor at UQTR will assist the RC greatly in building toward the next WFC Congress in 2019 and beyond".