THE ROLE OF CHIROPRACTORS IN THE DELIVERY OF INTERDISCIPLINARY HEALTH-CARE IN RURAL-AREAS

Objective: To examine the current and potential role of chiropractors in rural interdisciplinary health care teams. Design:Information was g athered from three sources to summarize rural health care delivery nee ds and interdisciplinary practice as they relate to chiropractic to de velop a position statement: a literature review, a series of semistruc tured phone interviews with health care providers and a workshop for i nterdisciplinary health care practitioners, rural chiropractors and ch iropractic college faculty. Results: The health care needs of rural po pulations are diverse and not adequately addressed in the current syst em. Interdisciplinary teams operating in a community base are recommen ded as one way to better serve rural needs. Chiropractors are not rout inely involved on such teams. Both interprofessional barriers (no chir opractic ''niche,'' lack of knowledge of chiropractic practice and tra ining and lack of medical acceptance) and intraprofessional barriers ( lack of consensus on scope of practice, lack of standardization of tra ining and lack of knowledge of other professions) were identified. Con clusions: Strategies for increasing integration of chiropractic care i nto the health care delivery system were development of interdisciplin ary preceptorships, development of post-graduate curricula for rural D Cs in interdisciplinary team concepts and practices, dissemination of information about chiropractic and consensus on chiropractic scope of practice.