Chiropractic + Naturopathic Doctor

The Power of Partnerships

By Lori Foster and John Toth DC   

Features Business Management

Prologue: The British Columbia Chiropractic Association (BCCA) has established public messaging campaigns to increase awareness regarding musculoskeletal health as well as networks with government agencies to make chiropractic more accessible to its citizens.

Prologue: The British Columbia Chiropractic Association (BCCA) has established public messaging campaigns to increase awareness regarding musculoskeletal health as well as networks with government agencies to make chiropractic more accessible to its citizens. Drawing from its success, the chiropractic associations in Saskatchewan and Manitoba have consulted and collaborated with the BCCA and have been able to successfully establish these programs within their own provinces. Collaborative relationships amongst various chiropractic bodies have the potential to foster a unification of messaging. This unification – different from uniformity – demonstrates a maturity and strength, on the part of the profession, in its commitment to improve the health of Canadians in a safe and cost-effective manner. 

Lori Foster, executive director of the Chiropractors’ Association of Saskatchewan (CAS) and Dr. John Toth, president of the Manitoba Chiropractors Association (MCA), discuss how this collaboration is benefiting chiropractors and the public in their respective provinces. 

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‘THINK TWICE, LIFT ONCE’ CAMPAIGN IN SASKATCHEWAN
By Lori Foster
Back injuries in the workplace and in the home take a toll on our society. Many of these injuries can be prevented.

Lifting correctly in just one example of how injuries can be prevented.

The “Think Twice, Lift Once” campaign promotes proper lifting and back safety in the home and the workplace. The campaign includes television public service announcements (PSAs), radio advertisements, posters, banners, strapping tape and uniform/coverall badges bearing the Think Twice, Lift Once logo.

Thanks to the British Columbia Chiropractic Association (BCCA) and WorkSafeBC, the Chiropractors’ Association of Saskatchewan (CAS) and WorkSafe Saskatchewan are adopting the campaign to promote back safety in Saskatchewan. 

Think Twice, Lift Once PSAs will run on television stations throughout Saskatchewan and strapping tape and posters are being distributed across the province as of the beginning of 2013. The CAS and WorkSafe Saskatchewan are entering into a three-year agreement to run the campaign.

I feel that this unique partnership between provincial chiropractors’ associations and compensation boards allows provincial chiropractors’ associations such as the CAS that could not afford to develop and distribute the advertisement and other materials on our own to run a highly effective public relations campaign provincewide.

Through this partnership the important safety message promoted in the campaign receives wider coverage, and chiropractors, who are portrayed as experts concerned about safety, receive excellent public exposure.
In today’s wired world, provincial and national borders do not mean much in communications. People in Saskatchewan, Newfoundland or British Columbia can easily view the Think Twice, Lift Once campaign videos posted on the BCCA website and YouTube channel. Wider distribution of the same high-quality materials reinforces and adds credibility to the message that some viewers may have already seen. More people will be educated by a safety message that is delivered by a chiropractor who understands and cares about prevention, safety and health.

Partnering with the Workers’ Compensation Board to run the campaign is an opportunity to strengthen the relationship between provincial chiropractors and Workers’ Compensation Boards. It also underlines the message that chiropractors care about public and employee safety, as well as about employer costs and the time lost by injured workers.

MCA’S PARTNERSHIP WITH SAFE WORK MANITOBA
By Dr. John Toth
In 2001, the Manitoba Minister of Labour and Immigration launched the most extensive consultation on workplace safety and health in more than 25 years.

The cornerstone recommendations were for the Workplace Safety and Health Division (WSHD) and the Workers Compensation Board of Manitoba (WCB) to co-ordinate their efforts and resources to lead a sustained provincewide initiative to build a strong workplace safety and health culture in Manitoba.

This goal was to be realized through the implementation of a set of recommendations within four priority areas: public awareness and education; training for employers, supervisors, and workers; prevention measures in workplaces and regulatory standards; and; strengthening the internal and external responsibility systems.

The WCB’s primary role in this process was promotion, especially through the creation of public awareness, data gathering and analysis, and funding research. It was to accomplish this by engaging with community partners to help discuss the challenge of preventing workplace injuries and illnesses.

As part of this process, the WCB developed a series of co-branded community campaigns that focused on preventive care and tied key suppliers and partners to their own Safe Work programs. Following discussions with BCCA concerning its affiliation with WorkSafe BC, the MCA embarked on forging a partnership with WorkSafe Manitoba.

The partnership
The MCA has had a long-term relationship with Workers’ Compensation in the province. In the last few years a portion of our discussion has been dedicated to the programs the MCA was developing to promote our organization’s focus on making people’s lives better. This relationship coupled with the new WCB initiative made the MCA a perfect partner for one of the community campaigns.

As part of the process, the MCA agreed to cover a small portion of the production cost, and in return, the WCB offered to feature the MCA as a partner in a television ad that would actually feature the MCA message and the key programs that we had added to the “Making your life better” website.

The focus for the joint ad was on the fact that “Manitoba chiropractors have always played a role in pain relief following an injury, but – today – chiropractors are also involved in injury prevention.” 

The ad indicated that the MCA/WCB partnership stems from both organizations’ desire to promote three MCA initiatives that were specifically aimed at helping Manitobans reduce risk and prevent injury. Straighten Up Manitoba, Best Foot Forward and Fit in 15 all consist of easy-to-do stretches and exercises that will help you condition your body to prevent injury.

The agreement
While the WCB was responsible for production (camera, editing and posting), the MCA was responsible for content. We wrote the initial script for the spot and actually provided the workspace for the shoot (the MCA offices). The MCA and the WCB worked together to select the talent.

In the end, the MCA paid $12,500 to cover some of the production costs and the WCB covered the remaining costs, which included the shoot, the editing, the talent, the lighting, props and the entire media buy. The ad ran for a scheduled four-month period as part of the WCB ad campaign. The direct media buy was in excess of $50,000 with an additional estimated $50,000 in media advertising as part of an ROS promotional agreement with the stations.

In addition, the spots were uploaded to both the MCA and the WCB websites – and they can still be found on both sites to this day. 

To further leverage our exposure during the campaign, the MCA launched its winter ad campaign to coincide with the launch of the WCB media buy – effectively giving the MCA two working media buys on four local television stations during the same four-month period (because the MCA was involved in the development of the WCB script, the format and message was consistent between the two campaigns).

Exposure during that four-month period was exceptional and the MCA received a tremendous response from both consumers and members. The program also helped to strengthen the relationship between the MCA and the WCB as they were able to promote Manitoba Chiropractors as one of their SAFE Momentum partners.

For more information on the chiropractic associations of British Columbia, Saskatchewan and Manitoba, please visit their websites at www.bcchiro.com, www.saskchiropractic.ca and www.manitobachiropractors.ca/ respectively.


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Lori Foster is Executive Director of the Chiropractors’ Association of Saskatchewan (CAS). She has an MA from the University of Regina and a BJ from Carleton University in Ottawa. She came to the CAS following 20 years in communications and research, much of it in the health field. Lori can be reached at lfoster@saskchiropractic.ca or 306-585-1411.

Dr. John Toth is a 1990 graduate of Life Chiropractic College West and has been in  private practice in Winnipeg, with his wife Dr. Audrey Toth, since 1990. Dr. Toth has been the president of the Manitoba Chiropractors Association for the past six years.


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