BACKGROUND Chiropractic and osteopathy form a significant part of the healthcare setting in rural and regional Australia, with national registration of practitioners, public subsidies for services and high utilisation by the Australian public. However, despite their significant role in rural and regional Australia, there has been little exploration of the interface between chiropractic and oste...

Background: Chiropractic and osteopathy form a significant part of the healthcare setting in rural and regional Australia, with national registration of practitioners, public subsidies for services and high utilisation by the Australian public. However, despite their significant role in rural and regional Australia, there has been little exploration of the interface between chiropractic and ost...

We assess the mechanism purported to underlie the health treatment regime labeled "cranial osteopathy" or "craniosacral therapy." We then summarize all published reports on interexaminer reliability associated with this modality, reanalyze some previously published data, and critique Upiedger'si often-cited study. Our own and previously published findings suggest that the proposed mechanism for...

Bone metabolism defects and skeleton diseases, so called renal osteopathy (RO), represent very serious clinical problems in the care of patients with kidney dysfunction. Renal osteopathy is a complicated skeletal disorder with a very complicated pathogenesis and we can encounter its individual forms in kidney transplant patients.

Both chiropractic and osteopathy are over a century old. They are now regarded as complementary health professions. There is an imperative for both professions to research the principles and claims that underpin them, and the new journal Chiropractic & Osteopathy provides a scientific forum for the publication of such research.

BACKGROUND Osteopathy is an increasingly popular healthcare approach that uses a wide variety of therapeutic manual techniques to address pain and somatic dysfunction. In Quebec, Canada, osteopathy is the complementary medicine most often recommended by family physicians. However, factors fostering the development of interprofessional collaboration (IPC) between physicians and osteopaths are un...

BACKGROUND Clinical reasoning has been described as a process that draws heavily on the knowledge, skills and attributes that are particular to each health profession. However, the clinical reasoning processes of practitioners of different disciplines demonstrate many similarities, including hypothesis generation and reflective practice. The aim of this study was to understand clinical reasonin...

Objective This study arose from a praxial problem: how best to communicate with patients about the mechanism of cranial osteopathy. The research question was rooted in phenomenological concept ‘sense-making’, and expressed as: ‘What sense do osteopaths their make phenomenon osteopathy?’ Method Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) used explore ‘lived experience’ embedded sense-making p...

Introduction/backgroundAustralian osteopaths predominately work in private practice. The vast majority of patients who present to fund their own care, with many receiving a rebate through health insurance cover. While there is little that describes the relationship between Australian osteopathy profession and insurers, such information could provide an opportunity for insurers improve coverage ...