LIFE WEST MAKES STRONG PRESENCE AT PRSA HEALTH ACADEMY’S 14TH ANNUAL ISSUES AND STRATEGIES CONFERENCE IN WASHINGTON, D.C.
HAYWARD, Calif., April 24, 2003

The lone presentation (out of 27 conference sessions) on non-medical health care was well received at the recent 14th Annual Public Relations Society of America's (PRSA) Health Academy Issues and Strategies Conference, in Washington D.C. Life Chiropractic College West President Gerard W. Clum, D.C. and Public Relations Manager Jonathan B. Lance presented the Saturday plenary luncheon session titled "Meeting the Increasing Patient demand for Non-Medical Health Care." Dr. Clum and Mr. Lance presented to a capacity filled hotel ballroom of attending executive-level public relations professionals and leading experts who represented numerous sections of the health-care arena including: education, pharmaceutical, medical devices, health insurance, and hospitals-who all traveled from throughout North America.

Primarily, the conference's sessions focused on medical-related topics including insurance, media coverage, labor shortages and impacts, rising costs, malpractice crisis, pharmaceutical marketing, and health care-communications.

Lance-who serves on the board of directors with the Health Academy-began the session talking about the overwhelming shift in interest with the health-care media, as well as the general media when it came to alternative health care coverage. "Just last a week, I counted 10 story queries regarding journalists writing stories on alternative health care," Lance told the crowd. "Media outlets included WEBMD, Men's Fitness magazine, Runner's World magazine, Pregnancy magazine, Women's World magazine, and Parent's magazine." He also talked about how many of the members of the media would tell him about their personal success stories with alternative health care, such as chiropractic or acupuncture.

Dr. Clum's presentation emphasized the elements behind the increase in interest in alternative health care, the magnitude of the consumer response to alternative care, and some prognosticating on what is likely to happen in the future relative to alternative health care. "It's important to remember that the 'Baby Boom Generation' was the first generation who said no to segregation, questioned a war, and threw out a president,' Dr. Clum said. "When it comes to their personal health care, it's clear they want something else-and they do not want what their parents had."

This year's Health Academy chair David P. Henry said, "I think it's more important than ever to incorporate all aspects of healthcare into the overall picture. Alternative and complementary medicine are becoming more and more mainstream.Dr. Clum and Mr. Lance really brought these two worlds together, pointing out the success when one uses both alternative and traditional medicine." (Henry is the senior vice president executive director, health care with On The Scene Productions, Inc.)

The 900-member Health Academy is a Professional Interest Section of the Public Relations Society of America. The Health Academy's members are primarily executive-level professionals representing health-related organizations and the agencies that serve them.

The Public Relations Society of America, headquartered in New York City, is the world's largest professional organization for public relations practitioners, with nearly 20,000 members organized into 116 Chapters nationwide. Members include public relations executives who work for corporations, agencies and counseling firms, government, associations, professional services firms and educational, health care and other nonprofit organizations.