Leadership and capacity building in international osteopathic research: Introducing Strengthening osteopathy leadership and research (SOLAR) program
Research evidence has become the foundation of modern health services. Health professionals rely on sound research to provide safe and effective care for patients, for the development of innovative diagnostic and treatment practices and to develop policies supporting the provision of optimal healthcare. Osteopathy is an established profession with an emerging research evidence base. The Strengthening Osteopathic Leadership and Research (SOLAR) program is a recent international initiative aiming to further build the evidence base and research capacity of the osteopathy profession. The program was developed by The Australian Research Consortium in Complementary and Integrative Medicine (ARCCIM) at the University of Technology Sydney (Sydney, Australia) and funded primarily by Osteopathy Australia, with the support from the Osteopathic Foundation (UK), Osteopaths New Zealand (NZ), Unité Pour l’Ostéopathie (France), and Svenska Osteopatförbundet (Sweden). This paper describes the origins, objectives and features of the SOLAR program and outlines the importance of the program for future research and practice in the osteopathy profession. From its beginnings in 2022, to date, the SOLAR program has been highly successful, producing a substantial collection of concrete research and presentations, while enhancing the Fellows' capacity and confidence as leaders, both in osteopathy and the broader healthcare environment.
Authors
- Chantal Morin (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0482-8513)
- Niklas Sinderholm Sposato (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2031-0837)
- Nicholas Tripodi (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5062-0409)
- Amie Steel (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6643-9444)
- Kesava Kovanur Sampath (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9908-3659)
- Oliver P. Thomson (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3062-9056)
- Michael Fleischmann (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2152-1193)
- Brett Vaughan (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8623-4558)
- Jon Adams (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9901-5717)
- Francesco Cerritelli (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2963-9620)
- Lee Muddle (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8435-3721)
- Gopi Anne McLeod (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7356-4569)
- Loïc Treffel (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7962-1026)
- Jerry Draper‐Rodi (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1900-6141)
- Jack Feehan (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9627-1299)
- Ana Paula Antunes Ferreira (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6464-3473)
- Cindy McIntyre (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1021-2675)
Institutions
- University of Technology Sydney (AU)
- Edith Cowan University (AU)
- Waikato Institute of Technology (NZ)
- Université de Sherbrooke (CA)
- The University of Melbourne (AU)
- Institut d'Économie Industrielle (FR)
- University College of Osteopathy (GB)
- Instituto Brasileiro de Osteopatia (BR)
- New York Institute of Technology (US)
- Italian institute for Genomic Medicine (IT)
- Te Pūkenga (NZ)
- Southern Cross University (AU)
- Victoria University (AU)
- RMIT University (AU)
- University of Gothenburg (SE)
Publication Details
- Journal
- International journal of osteopathic medicine
- Published
- 2025-02-22
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijosm.2025.100755
- Primary Topic
- Health and Medical Research Impacts
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.00