Empowering Women in Chiropractic - Pediatrics - Getting the Decision Maker to Say Yes!

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It's Dr. B and Elizabeth. Elizabeth. Say hi. Hello to the world. Hello. Are you ready for Christmas? Yep. Did you send any letter to Santa? I can't write yet, but I told him what I wanted. Don't you know that? Hello everybody. We are ready to take you to the next level with our show today, connecting with the C E O of the family, the decision maker for our little fiddle farts.

Dr. B and Elizabeth here. Elizabeth is gonna take a nap for a minute while we carry on and we are gonna Jimmy Jam to our little slideshow and rock and roll with you all today. Okay, time for you. Take a nap, girlfriend. So Elizabeth has been on a roll waiting for Santa like everybody else these days, first of all, ChiroSecure, thank you for giving us this amazing platform.

To hang out and share our story and our information with other amazing chiropractors in the field. So thank you for always supporting us and having our backs. And from my home to yours out there, Merry early Christmas. So what are we gonna do today? We want to connect. with the CEOs of the family or the decision makers of those that care for the little fiddle farts that come into our practices.

So I wanted just to give you some things to chew on, to think about as you are working to build your pediatric and family practices and start off 2023 with about a boom, ba beam, ba bang. With that said, Moms generally are the chief medical officers of the family. In fact, 75, 70 9% of Mamas report that they are the ones that usually choose care for their kiddos.

With various health providers, 77% of moms report that they are the ones that generally take the kiddos to their appointments. And we see that in our practices, right? It's generally moms that will make the appointments. It's generally moms that will choose to initiate care along with their little fiddle.

Or they start care with you first before they bring their kiddos in. So we see those we see that shift of moms generally versus dad. Dad's out there. You are not lost in the scenario. We have many dads that come in as a family unit as well. So we wanna acknowledge you as well. 94% of moms, of women in general are said to make healthcare decisions for themselves, which is good.

And we're gonna take that little point and take it a little bit further. And about 59% of women tend to make healthcare decisions for others within their family unit. The c d C says that about 58% of noted family caregivers, primary caregivers, Moms and 58% of women make healthcare decisions and they do but the biggest thing that, one of the biggest things we should be considering is that in making those decisions, they feel a lack of confidence and or maybe support from others within the family unit. So keep those things in mind. So what are some five basic things to consider when we wanna try to Give moms a little bit breather when they come in and they're, they are gonna be that decision maker.

Okay, so one thing is empower. Let's think about empowering them many. Individuals in general. Moms, dads, caregivers in general come in with already a a set level of knowledge. A lot of them have done their due diligence. They've maybe Dr. Googled, which we don't care for that much. They've talked to others.

They've had their own experience, they've had other experiences. You name it, right? Oftentimes though, When they've sought care from other providers, rather than being empowered and taking, taken in as part of the conversation. Instead they've been talked to we will be doing this, we will be doing this.

I'm gonna, I'm gonna prescribe this. I'm gonna prescribe that from the care from the provider versus listening to what mom has to say, allowing her questions to be heard. And letting her be part of the conversation and the decision making and feel good about it. So we wanna give her we don't wanna power struggle, we don't wanna power over her.

However, we want to empower her, answer the questions. Don't get offended. Should they come in with. Things from Dr. Google, but listen and know that let her know she's being heard. Okay? One of the ways that we can do that is we can look at what we call the evidence-based model of practice.

That's gotten a lot of attention in the chiropractic world in the last five years, or. And we've heard that being addressed more and more at different conferences, but I just wanted to go over that because this is a, it's a nice way to put forth information for the caregiver, whoever's there in, at that time, and to let them make the decision as to what feels right for them for their family.

So one is I used that picture of three different hats here, which I learned from Dr. Heidi Hok, the way she explains this. So we have our first hat, our clown hat, in this scenario, and that would be the science. What science do we have if little fiddle fart is coming in for I, Hey, I heard chiropractic and help with bedwetting, or, I heard chiropractic can help with A D H D, or autism or what have you.

Being straight for, forthcoming with the science that we have to date in what, with whatever they're being seen for. So we can present the little science that we have. We don't have a lot in a lot of areas and a lot of topics, so to speak, but we can say from the science that we have today, we know that little Jimmy or that children in general, Can benefit from chiropractic care for colic.

Okay. We have a few subjects that we do have some information on, or studies have found that children with colic may present with, 50% less crying time if you don't have the science. For instance, we don't have any science to say if chiropractic. Can help with autism. Don't be afraid to say that.

But then your second hat, your little lucky charm hat here is where we can really use our clinical experience to say what we found over the course of our career working with kiddos in the evidence-based model of. Your clinical experience, what you have done and seen in your practices has just as much weight as the other two hats, and that is evidence-based practice.

So you can say, from my clinical experience, I have found that moms report back that their little ones. Responded remarkably well to chiropractic care for their symptoms of colic. My, in my practice, I have found that little kiddos that I've worked with have responded quite well to digestive issues, and we have seen that their bowel movements become more regular.

That is just as value valuable as our science. Okay. In this evidence. Three hat model. And then the last hat is our witches hat. What are their wishes and wants? Mom we know that Johnny has been prescribed Ritalin for his A D H D. And I'm sure that they've informed you about the potential side effects of Ritalin.

Mom will probably say, no, not really. Okay. Here's some side effects that we know with that can occur with this medication. The side effects from chiropractic care, from what we've seen from our research is that they may have a little bit of soreness or stiffness after the adjustment. Mom, dad.

What are you wishes and wants? This is my recommendation that I see Johnny for two times a week, three times a week, whatever your protocol is for X amount of weeks. Then we reevaluate. We see where we're at, and we go from there. at this point. What do you feel comfortable with? Let them make the decision.

That is where you can get that. You really get that credibility working with them and giving them the power to choose. You give them information, you educate them, you give them the option, and really at that point, 99.9% of the time they're seeking you out because nothing else has worked. So they're like, let's go for it.

Okay, so empowering and explaining, doing the evidence-based model. Boom. Lot of a lot of connection and bonding with the caregivers at that point. So create an experience. That's the next thing. Number two, create an experience. I say let moms use their mommy meter. They know more about their kiddos than we do.

They really do. They have this innate connection with their little ones. Let that be heard. They're not used to being heard and validated. So by looking them in the eye, by having a calm environment, by you being calm, that means you gotta stay, stay in a state of balance.

Eating right, getting enough sleep, exercising. You being in a state that you are so calm and confident in your recommendations that you're not gonna get flustered. That comes across kids, animals, parents protecting their kiddos. They know your energy. Have nice lighting, nice calm environment. If you wanna offer things like water, tea, or so forth, but sit and have an experience with this individual.

And let their voice be heard. Very powerful. And have Kleenex ready because number three is a big thing when you've made, when you've given them that power to choose what they feel is right for their child. When you've created an experience of caring, of warmth, of connect. And then you go on to explain their child to them.

Now, this is a little bit depending on what they're coming in for, but a child's neuro expressive behavior, the way they behave in life is really a window into their neurological integrity to really understand a person's expressive behavior it may entail that you look at doing Advanced educational seminars or so forth to understand this sensory motor, what I call perception response mechanisms.

But when you explain a child's behavior to them and why they're doing it, this is when the tears start to flow more than once. It's, it happens on a regular basis. So I have a box of Kleenex handy. because once mom understand it's not her fault, it's nothing she's doing to, because a lot of parents, believe it or not, think that it's their fault that they're doing something wrong.

Once they understand, it's not that they can actually bond better with their child. They understand these behavioral struggles. So that is a key thing. So for. The kiddo that is always getting in trouble at school bef for being the torn, what I call the tornado kiddo, just getting up and running around all the time, can't sit still spinning, getting up in circle time.

Oftentimes what their brain is craving is movement. it is oftentimes vestibular input to their brain. And so once parents understand that, and we can explain why chiropractic care would be so important in that situation. Because knowing the infor, the brain, getting the proper information into the body so that from the body to the brain, so the brain knows the status of the body, that child can better self.

That child that is what I call the pull punch, push kiddo, the aggressive, maybe the bullier. They pinch a lot. They bite. Oftentimes they're looking for deep pressure to, again, to get a status of their body. They're looking for proprioception, and so we explain that to the caregivers and it's like a light bulb.

And then how can we help them foster better regulation and information from the body to the brain and the brain to the body. And we give them in the message of chiropractic. So that's, that is a golden ticket. So we got the three E's. Empower, experience, explain Now women talk. We like to talk talk.

Especially moms that are struggling have kiddos with challenges. They are out there on Dr. Google, on Facebook, on Twitter, whatever. I'm not savvy on a lot of social media, as you guys know. But they talk in mommy groups at the gym you name it, right? At church at the school, whatever.

They talk. So if they have a great experience, that is a win-win. If they don't have such a great experience, that's not such a win. So make sure that you set the stage with the three E's. And the other things you can do is you can. Mommy nights or women's nights or caregiver nights, or whatever you wanna call it in your offices, where they actually come together as a supportive community for each other.

And believe me, in the time of covid, this is beyond big. An example was just Monday, I had a single mom come in and break down. She was just at her wit's end, and she says, Dr. B. , you have helped me so much. I'm doing so much better. She had covid and had chronic fatigue issues and a lot of things going on and that was all getting better.

But she's but over the weekend, little things that used to, I used to handle with no problems are just getting to me. And I just broke down and started crying and it was stupid, and so I sat with her again. . I wanted to empower her. I wanted to recreate an experience in my office. Okay. And I wanted to explain her behavior to herself because in the time we have what BC before, COVID and AC after Covid, most people's adaptability zone is shrunk from little fiddle farts.

To older individuals and we're seeing that across the board. So for her to understand that it, this isn't just her, and I told her, I said, I can line 50 or a hundred people up in the same boat as you. We need to be a little bit more kind to ourselves and and know that our ability to handle these stressors has been has been shrunk down.

Due to the last three years of what we've all experienced. And then if you got the viral load on top of that, et cetera, it just as our adaptability has shrunk, so we need to be a little bit more kind to ourselves. That went viral, that went global. That was just Monday and by yesterday in the office, I was getting all kinds of notes and so forth.

Creating an environment like that for moms where they can understand that it's not just them, they feel isolated. They feel like they are not handling the stress anymore as well. That they are not good enough for thems their families. So that is a huge thing, and they will talk and just taking that load off of them.

Their wellbeing goes up. Kids respond to caregivers, especially mom, stress. , guess what? Kiddo's behavior gets better. So just remember that women talk, give them that. Give them that space and that place to have that conversation and. They will search media and they will post on media. Look at your reviews.

If you're not, if you're not savvy or don't feel comfortable in that, maybe hire somebody that is knowledgeable on how to handle any particular reviews, but use testimonies, use testimonials out there on your pages. With, again, get a release form, right? That you're able to do that. But this can be the most powerful form of connecting with your communities via other patients that you've connected with.

Okay? But do keep an eye on what is being put on your social media platforms. Okay. Couple other things that should just to shore things up. We're in a whole different era, guys. . So in 2000, the year 2000, the average American had a 12 second. Attention span in 12 seconds isn't a lot. Okay.

Today it's actually 8.5 seconds. So the average attention span is about 8.5 seconds. Less than a goldfish. A goldfish attention span is nine seconds. So we do need to keep that in mind when we are communicating via, in our offices via social platforms, email, whatever. Okay? Keep that in mind. The tension span has sh.

Drastically. What I have found that the, I have a practice that is neurologically driven. So my initial consultation or intake is longer. It's an hour, but I am listening to them. That gives them the, I'm empowering them to tell their story to me. I am listening intensively and taking notes and asking questions during that time.

However, my report of findings is shorter and I do shorter snippets of information over time. For educational purposes because we have less of attention span than a goldfish. So just remember that lots of times we have the desire to just barf everything out at them and tell 'em everything we know and we've got to pull, dial that back a little bit and give them little snippets at a time.

Okay. And that may be in the form of whether you have a social media track that you send them, you email them a, ten second video or a little ten second blurb of information or whatever. Over time, The thing we're finding is a lot of people aren't even using email anymore, and it's going to more of a texting platform.

So these are all things we need to keep in and keep in mind there. And last but not least, the average American has a reading level at about a seventh to eighth grade level. So choose your words kindly easily, whether they're spoken words or written words. People do respond in if you do, if you think of three ways to communicate within your office, auditorially, visually and kinesthetically.

If they can see something, hear something, and have something tangible and tactile it is, it sticks better in their memory bank. Just some things to think about as you move into 2023. And as we are, we're trying to navigate again, AC after Covid. And a very interesting study just came out a couple weeks ago looking at adolescence brains, healthy adolescence that.

Not from getting a viral load or not from getting an injection, but from the merely the stress, I shouldn't use that term merely the stress, but from the stress of the last three years-ish and what that's doing to the brain and an adult, an adolescent brain. Aging faster than expected. So we can only surmise if we take that information and put that to older adults that maybe weren't as healthy or have endured more stress over time.

What that's happening, and that's why we're seeing what we're seeing these days at adaptability zone. Shrinking. As we wrap it up, I want you to remember this and take time to be kind to yourself. At the end of the year, a lot of people are tired, they're exhausted. Don't be so hard on yourself.

Take that extra time, rest, reset, reboot, rise, repeat, and just keep doing that and make that, try to make that a goal for 2020. To have that extra time for yourself and have a little bit of grace for yourself. All right, we're gonna wrap it up. So from my house, to your house from me and Elizabeth from ChiroSecure to you out there.

We wish you an incredible holiday season, a Merry Christmas, all the best in 2023. I'll be back, I'm gonna start a series In The Know. We're gonna talk a lot about preconception and prenatal, things to know with regard to neural development. And Erik Kowalke is here the first Thursday of the month and a lot of great speakers in or guests in between.

And again, we wish you Merry Christmas ChiroSecure you're amazing. We love you. We'll see you guys next year.

Today's pediatric show is brought to you by ChiroSecure.