The American Chiropractic Association (ACA) recently launched the Tribal Health Interest Group, an initiative focused on increasing access to evidence-based, culturally-informed chiropractic care for Tribal communities.
The American Chiropractic Association (ACA) recently launched the Tribal Health Interest Group, an initiative focused on increasing access to evidence-based, culturally-informed chiropractic care for Tribal communities.The US is home to 574 federally recognized Tribes, comprising approximately 2.1 million members, noted an ACA press release. These communities face significant healthcare disparities, including higher poverty rates, poor health outcomes and the US’s highest mortality from opioid overdoses.
Despite a treaty-based guarantee of healthcare, the Indian Health Service (IHS) remains underfunded and lacks doctors of chiropractic. Currently, approximately 50 DCs work within Tribal healthcare settings, with less than 1% of all DCs identifying as Native.
Pain management solutions
The IHS is the only major federal healthcare agency that does not include chiropractic care, despite guidelines supporting its use for neuromusculoskeletal conditions. As a result, Tribal patients often receive substandard pain management, with a higher rate of opioid prescriptions compared to other populations.
The group’s mission is to enhance Tribal healthcare by integrating chiropractic care and emphasizing its role in pain management, ultimately reducing reliance on opioids. Its objectives include encouraging more Tribal members to become DCs through college scholarship support, assisting Tribes in adding chiropractic services for members, advocating for IHS policy changes to cover chiropractic services and supporting DCs who work in Tribal clinics.
Membership in the Tribal Health Interest Group is open to all DCs working in Tribal healthcare, those of Native heritage and ACA members interested in supporting the initiative. The group is also recruiting Native students for a pilot program designed to support their chiropractic education and encourage them to return to serve their communities.
About the American ChiropractIc Association
The American Chiropractic Association (ACA) is the largest professional chiropractic organization in the United States. ACA attracts the most principled and accomplished chiropractors, who understand that it takes more to be called an ACA chiropractor. We are leading our profession in the most constructive and far-reaching ways–by working hand in hand with other health care professionals, by lobbying for pro-chiropractic legislation and policies, by supporting meaningful research and by using that research to inform our treatment practices. We also provide professional and educational opportunities for all our members and are committed to being a positive and unifying force for the practice of modern chiropractic. To learn more, visit acatoday.org.
