Public health advocacy and chiropractic: a guide to helping your community reach its health objectives.

Objective: Doctors of chiropractic (DCs) provide health educational and promotion efforts in the communities they serve by counseling patients at the individual level. This article outlines a method and model in which DCs can effectively serve as public health advocates within their community.

Discussion: The social ecological model of health education and health promotion serves as an excellent template for taking into account every antecedent to disease within a community and how to prevent it through health promotion. A step-by-step guide to getting the DC involved in the community can be centered on this model, with the DC serving as a health advocate for his or her community. Resources are provided to assist in this process.

Conclusion: The DC can and should engage his or her community in areas that are conducive to health through involvement and advocacy roles where these are suitable. A community's health can be enhanced with greater health care provider involvement, and DCs need to consider themselves a part of this process.