The National Workshop to Develop the Chiropractic Research Agenda

Objective: To convene a national meeting to develop a research agenda for the chiropractic profession that targets the need to increase chiropractic's research capacity. Design: The project was funded by a contract between the U.S. Health Resources and Services Administration Bureau of Health Professions (HRSA BHPr) and Palmer College of Chiropractic. Groundwork was established through a literature review and creation of position papers by teams of recognized authorities on the current status and recommendations for the future on the topics of clinical, educational, outcomes, basic science, and health services research and research infrastructure in chiropractic. The workshop took place July 12-14, 1996, in Washington, DC, with participants representing relevant segments of the research community of the health care professions, health professions education, health care policy, and all portions of the chiropractic community, including researchers, practitioners, faculty, administrators, and members of professional organizations. Work groups in each of the five target areas developed recommendations based on the seed material presented in the position papers. The results were incorporated into the final position papers. Results: The primary outcome of the workshop was the completion of five position papers, one for each of the topics addressed. Also, a consensus process was initiated at the workshop on infrastructure needs of the profession but, because of the diversity of experience and opinions and the broad scope of the topic, was not completed by the end of the project year. Conclusions: Consensus was not reached on the development of a research agenda for the chiropractic profession, and a continuation of the contract has been agreed upon by HRSA BHPr to continue the process for another project year.