The National Institutes of Health, National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine awards three-year grant to study veterans with musculoskeletal pain.
October 22, 2014 — The Foundation for Chiropractic Progress (F4CP) commends the National Institutes of Health (NIH), National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine, for awarding the Palmer Center for Chiropractic Research (PCCR), the largest research effort within the chiropractic community, and its partners in the Department of Veterans Affairs, a grant totaling $718,241.
The generous grant will support a three-year research-planning project that addresses questions related to the integration of chiropractic services into the Veterans Health Administration (VHA) and the development of clinical practice guidelines for veterans with musculoskeletal and mental health conditions.
“A significant number of our nation’s veterans suffer from musculoskeletal disorders combined with mental health conditions,” said principal investigator Christine Goertz, DC, PhD, Palmer College of Chiropractic’s vice chancellor for Research and Health Policy. “Chiropractic provides a non-pharmaceutical option that may contribute to a multidisciplinary treatment approach. This planning grant will be used to collect the preliminary data needed to further evaluate the impact of adding chiropractic services to already established military care models.”
Over the course of the three-year study, the PCCR and its VA partners—University of Iowa, Iowa City VA Health Care Systems, VA Connecticut Healthcare System and Minneapolis VA Health Care System—will:
- Develop an integrative-care model that includes doctors of chiropractic in multidisciplinary teams that treat patients with musculoskeletal pain and mental health conditions in the VHA.
- Tailor existing chiropractic guidelines and best practices to fit with current VHA pain-management initiatives.
- Conduct a pilot clinical trial of the developed integrated-care model in caring for veterans with musculoskeletal pain and mental health conditions.
“Doctors of chiropractic specialize in the management and care of neuromusculoskeletal problems that can yield mental health complications,” said Gerard Clum, DC, spokesperson for F4CP. “We look forward to the outcomes of this research helping us better understand how we can better support our troops and the general population at large. I appreciate the NIH recognizing the potential influence of chiropractic care and supporting activities toward the development of best practices—an improved, more inclusive care model for our military population.”
