National Chiropractic Health Month: Help America Prevent MSK Conditions While Adapting to the New Normal

This October during National Chiropractic Health Month (NCHM), chiropractors nationwide will do their part to help people navigate the new normal without adding extra aches, pains and injuries to their concerns. With the theme “Active and Adaptive,” NCHM 2020 aims to raise awareness of the importance of movement, posture and stress management to our musculoskeletal health.

As the COVID-19 pandemic took root in the United States earlier this year and stay-at-home guidance went into effect, millions of people were forced with little or no preparation to set up offices and work spaces in their homes and adapt to working remotely, while simultaneously avoiding many places, activities and people outside the home. Some also had to help their children adjust to online school. Screen time has exploded since March! It was not long after these changes–and the inevitable stress that accompanied them–that chiropractors started noticing a rise in complaints such as back pain and neck pain.

ACA media team members Karen Erickson, DC, in New York and Scott Bautch, DC, in Wausau, Wis., noticed the trend in their respective practices and contacted ACA to alert us that something was up—a wave of new musculoskeletal (MSK) issues that were likely a consequence of pandemic-related lifestyle changes. A Facebook poll conducted by ACA in April confirmed that more than 90 percent of chiropractors were seeing an increase in MSK issues since the beginning of the pandemic.

The Media Takes Notice 

The media has hopped on the work-from-home injury trend, too: In 2020, American Chiropractic Association experts have been featured in articles on the subject published in such major media outlets such as The Wall Street JournalThe Washington Postand The New York Times. In addition, the results of ACA’s Facebook poll have been included in many more print, radio and broadcast segments on the subject.

Get Ready to ‘Activate’ Your NCHM Promotions!

Now it’s your turn to get the word out and to help people in your community adapt in healthy ways to the lifestyle challenges of the pandemic. The NCHM 2020 toolkit is open and filled with resources to help raise awareness of the importance of movement, posture and stress management to musculoskeletal health. Here is what you’ll find at www.acatoday.org/NCHMtoolkit:

  • Sample proclamation (and instructions)
  • Sample press release (and instructions)
  • Key messages and facts
  • Sample social media posts
  • Sample promotional plan
  • Social media images – in English and Spanish
  • Infographics
  • NCHM logos
  • Patient information handouts

To start, review the sample promotional plan and begin planning how your practice will observe NCHM. Use ACA’s resources or get creative: In the past, for example, some chiropractors have created their own NCHM videos, drawing on the key messages in their script. You are only limited by your imagination! Whatever you do, use the hashtag #ActiveAdaptive when you post about it. ACA will repost NCHM-related posts on its social media pages throughout October and we do not want to miss yours! Likewise, follow ACA on its social media channels and you can easily repost NCHM content for your followers.

Visit www.acatoday.org/NCHMtoolkit to get moving on your NCHM activities.

For questions or additional information, contact [email protected].

#ActiveAdaptive