• Richards D
• Grace S
• Emmanuel E

• Health Promotion
• Open Access Document
• Sense of Coherence
• Vitalism

Objective: Non-communicable lifestyle-related conditions are the leading cause of premature illness, death, and medical costs worldwide. Some chiropractors believe that thinking and practices based on vitalism could offer a new approach to address the prevalence of these conditions. This paper explores the potential value that thinking and practices based on vitalism might offer in addressing global prevalence of these conditions.

Methods: A qualitative research design involved semi-structured interviews of eighteen chiropractors selected by purposive sampling from eight countries. Interview transcripts were analysed using reflexive thematic analysis.

Results: Two themes were identified: 1) Individuals’ lack of connection with the order of the universe and the innate intelligence of their bodies; and 2) Chiropractic approaches based on vitalism offer a conceptual gateway to self-empowering reconnection and realignment to universal order, innate intelligence, and health.

Conclusion: This study provides the first empirical data on chiropractors’ understandings of non-communicable lifestyle-related conditions, their deeper causes from dis-connection and misalignment, and how vitalistic thinking and practices might offer value by addressing these deeper causes. Potential challenges to operationalizing such practices are identified. The generalizability of the findings is limited by the sample size.

Author keywords: Chronic Disease; Health Promotion; Qualitative Research; Chiropractic; Vitalism; Salutogenesis

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