I stood on that line for about thirty minutes, waiting for my turn to purchase my armload of books and CD’s. It was the third time I’d repeated the drill, checking my list, making the rounds, and facing the inevitable queue to financial responsibility. The stores were a bit busier than in recent years, a good sign for the economy, I thought.
People were echoing my ritual everywhere I looked, dutifully examining merchandise, wrinkling their brows in decision, making their selections and marching off to wait, hundreds of people just in my view, who knows how many overall. Standing there, my mind drifted to some common topics — how do we reach more people with a message of a wellness lifestyle, what methods can we use to help the public understand the importance of chiropractic’s role, how can we get patients to reprioritize health and wellness in their values hierarchy, typical daydreaming for me — and then it hit me!
My co-shoppers, fellow soldiers in the army of holiday cheer, were the very same people who tell you that they don’t have the time or the money to afford proper care for themselves and their families. They have no problem rationalizing their spending a disproportionate amount of their income and time on seasonal remembrances and line-waiting, but when it comes to investing in wellness? Well, while I think it’s reasonable to say that more people are getting it now than ever, we still have a long way to go.
Why is it easier for our neighbors to spend on gifts and parties than to invest in health care for their families? First, it’s more engrained in our culture. Second, it’s more directly pleasurable. Seeing the enjoyment on your receiver’s face provides tremendous emotional rewards, and no matter how good your care feels, it can’t compete with that. Nor am I saying we should forego gift-giving in favor of chiropractic care — the exchange of symbols of love and appreciation is part of wellness, and gives us experiences with gratitude, generosity, self esteem, love and other vital character builders.
It just seems ironic to me that people tend to be able to find enough money and time for whatever is most important to them, and that is the point of this column — we need to do a better job of helping people prioritize chiropractic care properly in their lifestyles. If your patients got the same consistency in their input about health and wellness as they do about holiday shopping, they would certainly respond with their conscientious use of your services. But short of launching a twenty million dollar public relations campaign, our best shot is for you to communicate with your patients, one by one.
Make it your business to target at least one person each day to really concentrate on getting your message across. Give everyone at least a tidbit of patient education each visit, but pick at least one person each day, and spend a little extra time educating that patient and repositioning chiropractic in his or her perspective. By chipping away, you will impact hundreds of people each year, thousands over your career. If every chiropractor did that, millions of people would get the big idea, and our work toward a well society would accelerate. This year, give your patients the gift of explaining the chiropractic lifestyle — it’s a gift that keeps on giving, for generations to come.
Dennis Perman DC, for The Masters Circle
PS Please join us at our first quarter seminar in Chicago, SF and NJ, called "Raising The Bar Of Chiropractic Practice." Learn how raising your standards and working smarter can build your practice! To register, please visit www.themasterscircle.com, or call 800-451-4514. Thank you!
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