Back to school marketing

It’s only July, but the stores are already beginning to stock fall clothes and Halloween candy. That’s your cue to begin educating parents about “back to school” health issues, which chiropractic can address.

The drug industry is already beginning its back-to-school vaccine push, and once more chiropractors and other wellness professionals will be leading the campaign against mandatory vaccinations. You can help by learning the facts about vaccines (a good place to start is the National Vaccine Information Center and sharing that information with patients as well as community members (they have a number of excellent downloadable flyers).

Become aware of the exemptions allowed in your state for school children and protest the forced vaccination of children against their parents’ wishes. Many states are inserting “philosophical exemptions” that permit children to skip vaccines if their families have strong but not religious opposition to the drugs.

It’s also the time of year drug companies pump up their advertising for cold and flu medicines (every season is cold season to them!). In response, distribute information on the studies done on chiropractic and immune function (see the WCA position paper and the lengthy list of references supporting the claim that chiropractic can boost immune strength). Place a big poster with this quote in your waiting room:

“People who receive regular chiropractic adjustments have immune system competency that is 200% greater than those who don’t.” — Dr. Ron Pero, New York Preventative Medicine Institute and Environmental Health at NYU.

Chiropractors need to start a campaign to remind parents that health comes from INSIDE the body — not inside a bottle of pills.

And, of course, there’s the problem of backpacks, which seem to grow each year. I’ve seen kids wearing backpacks that would bring a longshoreman to his knees. The strain they put on back muscles, and the damage they can do to posture definitely involves the chiropractic profession.

CJ Mertz, DC, president of Full Potential Leadership, warned about this problem years ago: “The weight of their packs and the one-sidedness has led to an epidemic of adolescent back problems. The time has come for chiropractic to take the leadership position and save these children from a lifetime of suffering.”

There are a number of excellent resources online for information about backpack safety (such as Backpack Safety America and Posture Pro) where you can download research data. You might want to consider stocking some good backpacks to sell to your patients for their kids. Not only will you increase your revenue, but you’ll be going the extra mile to help protect the children’s health.

And don’t forget to use your local newspaper to spread the word about your efforts. Sending in an article, letter to the editor or press release helps educate the public AND position your office as a true “back to school” health resource. (search Google news for press releases by other chiropractic offices to give you some hints on how and what to write).

The kids may be going back to school soon, but we have to get back to work if we’re to help them get through the months ahead!