Meeting report from the 10th Osteopaths New Zealand Conference in Christchurch, Aotearoa, New Zealand.

From 21-24 September 2023, Michelle Funder, President, Antony Nicholas, CEO and Stephanie Santos, Policy and Advocacy Manager, attended the 10^th Osteopaths New Zealand (ONZ) Conference in Christchurch, Aotearoa, New Zealand.

The conference’s theme was pain science. The first day of the conference featured several speakers, including Ben Darlow, Nick Penney, Glynis Fox, Jim Webb and Kesava Sampath.

Key takeaway points from day one were:

• People’s understanding of their health is built on their experiences over time;
• There are very few people who do not have or experienced low back pain;
• Treating pain is something different. We need to explore ‘what’s under the hood’;
• Chronic persistent pain is pain that someone experiences for more than 12 weeks;
• To prevent chronic pain, we need to manage acute pain well;
• Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) is now recognised as a chronic pain condition;
• Advance Practitioners need to be recognised as one of the best in the profession;
• ONZ will trial sports and exercise and eventually roll out other specialties like women’s health.

The second day of the conference featured keynote speakers, including Rachel Klaver, Paul Lagerman, Dave Nicholls and one of our Australian osteopaths, Sarah Drysburgh. The conference’s second day provided many opportunities to network and gain insight into how osteopathy can help women experiencing endometriosis. We learnt that  68.4% of children who spend time in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) can develop chronic pain by 10 years of age  – the day concluded with the gala dinner.

On day three, Glynis Fox, Rosie Greene and Gary Fryer gave presentations. Gary highlighted how osteopathy is changing and non-traditional practice settings are becoming more common. We now see more osteopaths (84%) practising in a multi-practitioner setting. Gary also highlighted the importance of advocacy work we engage in, to ensure a stronger voice for the profession.

The conference was an excellent opportunity for us to network, learn, and listen to lived experiences of working in the osteopathic profession. We thank ONZ for having the Osteopathy Australia team!