The American Chiropractic Association, based in Arlington, VA, represents doctors of chiropractic. Its mission is to inspire and empower its members to elevate the health and wellness of their communities.
Purpose and mission
The mission of the American Chiropractic Association is to inspire and empower its members to elevate the health and wellness of their communities. To this end, ACA leads the chiropractic profession in the most constructive and far-reaching ways -- by working hand in hand with other healthcare professionals, by lobbying for pro-chiropractic legislation and policies, by supporting meaningful research and by using that research to inform treatment practices. ACA also provides professional and educational opportunities for its members and is committed to being a positive and unifying force for the practice of modern chiropractic.
Overview
The American Chiropractic Association was founded in 1922, and in 1930 merged with the Universal Chiropractors Association to form the National Chiropractic Association. In 1963, the NCA was reorganized, once again under the title of the American Chiropractic Association. The House of Delegates, the deliberative body of the Association, is composed of 124 delegates representing all 50 states, the ACA Board of Governors, the ACA’s specialty councils, the Faculty American Chiropractic Association, the Student American Chiropractic Association and ACA's state affiliates. The HOD meets once per year in person during the association’s annual meeting, usually held in the first quarter of the year. ACA formally recognizes 12 specialty areas of chiropractic practice through its specialty councils:
The official research journal of ACA is Journal of Manipulative and Physiological Therapeutics, which is owned by National University of Health Sciences and published by Elsevier. Electronic access to JMPT is a membership benefit for all ACA general members. ACA also publishes a weekly e-newsletter, ACA Connects, which features news from the association and the profession, information on education programs and events, and other important updates for members. ACA endorses a number of consumer products after thorough review, analysis, testing and evaluation by a review board of doctors of chiropractic with specific and related expertise and final approval from ACA’s Board of Governors. Products are reviewed regularly to ensure they continue to meet the high standards on which the endorsement was approved. The American Chiropractic Foundation is the charitable arm of the association. The Foundation provides grants for research, education, and scholarships.
History
The American Chiropractic Association is an organizational descendant of one of the first national chiropractic membership societies, the Universal Chiropractors Association,which was established at the Palmer School of Chiropractic in 1906. ACA as we know it today was founded in 1963, with the merger of the National Chiropractic Association and a splinter group from another national association. Over its history, ACA and its predecessors were responsible for establishing some of the profession's most important foundational organizations in the areas of chiropractic research and education.
