Stacie A. Salsbury, Ph.D., R.N.

Spine care and symptom self-management in midlife and older adults; age-friendly and person-centered chiropractic care; patient safety and adverse-event science in chiropractic and manual therapies; complementary and integrative health; and stakeholder engagement and implementation science in pragmatic clinical trials.

Research Keywords

Gerontology and aging; age-friendly care (4Ms); qualitative and mixed methods; patient safety culture; adverse-event science; integrative medicine; chronic illness; back and neck pain; pain management; chiropractic; clinical and pragmatic trials; health services research; health equity; patient-centered care; nursing; veteran health; stakeholder engagement; implementation science.

• Postdoctoral Fellowship — University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill
• Ph.D., Nursing / Gerontology — University of Iowa
• M.S.N., Gerontology — University of Iowa
• B.S.N. — University of Iowa

• VERDICT — Chiropractic Care for Veterans (Co-Investigator; lead author of the first findings paper on patient and clinician perspectives regarding treatment effectiveness, chiropractic care dose, and maintenance care across four VA medical centers.)
• Models of Healthy Aging with Chiropractic Care (Principal Investigator) — Project 1: The 4Ms for Age-Friendly Chiropractic Care
• IMPACt-LBP — Implementation of the American College of Physicians (ACP) Guideline for Low Back Pain (Co-Investigator)

• VERDICT — Chiropractic Care for Veterans (NIH UG3/UH3AT009761). Co-Investigator. 9/2017–8/2025.
• IMPACt-LBP — Implementation of the ACP Guideline for Low Back Pain (NIH UH3AT011187). Co-Investigator. 7/2021–6/2026.
• Understanding Patient Perspectives on the Safety of Chiropractic Care (Canadian Chiropractic Research Foundation). Co-Investigator. 2/2026–7/2027.
• Advancing Patient Safety Culture in the Chiropractic Profession (RAND Research Across Complementary and Integrative Health Institutions (REACH) Center Pilot Grants). Co-Investigator. 3/2025–7/2026.
• Active Aging for Spine Health (AASH) — AASH (National Chiropractic Mutual Insurance Company (NCMIC) Foundation). Principal Investigator. 8/2020–8/2021.
• Models of Healthy Aging with Chiropractic Care (research program; Principal Investigator). Project 1: The 4Ms for Age-Friendly Chiropractic Care.

View all publications on PubMed →

• Salsbury SA, Killinger LZ, Bhatti JL, Twist E. 4Ms for age-friendly chiropractic care: student perceptions following a brief educational intervention. Gerontol Geriatr Educ. 2026 Apr-Jun;47(2):272-286. doi: 10.1080/02701960.2025.2503948. Epub 2025 May 14. PMID: 40366725.
• Daniels CJ, Farabaugh RJ, Salsbury SA, Anderson KR, Kleppe MJ, Whalen WM, Walters SA, Killinger LZ, Schielke AL. Adverse events among older adults receiving chiropractic spinal manipulation and related treatments: an updated systematic review. Chiropr Man Therap. 2026 Mar 16;34(1):15. doi: 10.1186/s12998-026-00633-3. PMID: 41840685; PMCID: PMC13104207.
• Wright DS, Kleppe M, Coleman BC, Funabashi M, Ferguson AG, Brown R, Rubinstein SM, Salsbury SA, Pohlman KA. Patient safety culture research within the chiropractic profession: a scoping review. Chiropr Man Therap. 2025 Oct 21;33(1):46. doi: 10.1186/s12998-025-00605-z. PMID: 41121121; PMCID: PMC12538883.
• Salsbury SA, Long CR, McCarey J, Lisi AJ, Steward A, Wallace RB, Goertz CM. Age differences in demographic and clinical characteristics among veterans with chronic low back pain: a cross-sectional study of baseline findings from the Veteran Response to Dosage in Chiropractic Therapy (VERDICT) trial. Chiropr Man Therap. 2025 Oct 13;33(1):44. doi: 10.1186/s12998-025-00613-z. PMID: 41084026; PMCID: PMC12516875.
• Salsbury SA, Funabashi M, Kangas KA Jr, Woosley V, Crouch AN, Brown A, Lee AD, Borody CPA, Porter BJ, St-Onge E, Moore MP, Pohlman KA. Suggestions for improving patient safety culture within international chiropractic teaching settings: A qualitative analysis of clinic partner feedback from a mixed-method survey. J Chiropr Educ. 2025 Apr 30;39:eJCE-24-15. doi: 10.7899/JCE-24-15. PMID: 40298044; PMCID: PMC12430334.
• Coleman BC, Rubinstein SM, Salsbury SA, Swain M, Brown R, Pohlman KA. The World Federation of Chiropractic Global Patient Safety Task Force: a call to action. Chiropr Man Therap. 2024 May 13;32(1):15. doi: 10.1186/s12998-024-00536-1. PMID: 38741191; PMCID: PMC11092090.
• Maiers M, Salsbury SA. “Like Peanut Butter and Jelly”: A Qualitative Study of Chiropractic Care and Home Exercise Among Older Adults With Spinal Disability. Arthritis Care Res (Hoboken). 2022 Nov;74(11):1933-1941. doi: 10.1002/acr.24636. Epub 2022 Jul 22. PMID: 33973398.
• Long CR, Salsbury SA, Vining RD, Lisi AJ, Corber L, Twist E, Abrams T, Wallace RB, Goertz CM. Care Outcomes for Chiropractic Outpatient Veterans (COCOV): a single-arm, pragmatic, pilot trial of multimodal chiropractic care for U.S. veterans with chronic low back pain. Pilot Feasibility Stud. 2022 Mar 7;8(1):54. doi: 10.1186/s40814-022-01008-0. PMID: 35256010; PMCID: PMC8900358.
• Salsbury SA, Twist E, Wallace RB, Vining RD, Goertz CM, Long CR. Care Outcomes for Chiropractic Outpatient Veterans (COCOV): a qualitative study with veteran stakeholders from a pilot trial of multimodal chiropractic care. Pilot Feasibility Stud. 2022 Jan 14;8(1):6. doi: 10.1186/s40814-021-00962-5. PMID: 35031072; PMCID: PMC8759237.
• Salsbury SA, Maiers M. Qualitative Analysis of Illness Representations and Coping Perceptions Among Older Adults With Chronic Spinal Disability: “A Thought in the Back of My Mind”. J Manipulative Physiol Ther. 2021 Oct;44(8):652-662. doi: 10.1016/j.jmpt.2022.02.003. PMID: 35786297.
• Long CR, Lisi AJ, Vining RD, Wallace RB, Salsbury SA, Shannon ZK, Halloran S, Minkalis AL, Corber L, Shekelle PG, Krebs EE, Abrams TE, Lurie JD, Goertz CM. Veteran Response to Dosage in Chiropractic Therapy (VERDICT): Study Protocol of a Pragmatic Randomized Trial for Chronic Low Back Pain. Pain Med. 2020 Dec 12;21(Suppl 2):S37-S44. doi: 10.1093/pm/pnaa289. PMID: 33313732; PMCID: PMC7734654.

• National Chiropractic Mutual Insurance Company (NCMIC)-Journal of Manipulative and Physiological Therapeutics (JMPT) Louis Sportelli Research Award, World Federation of Chiropractic (WFC) 18th Biennial Congress — 2025 (co-recipient)
• National Board of Chiropractic Examiners (NBCE) Research Paper Award, Association of Chiropractic Colleges and Research Agenda Conference (ACC-RAC) — 2025 (co-recipient and mentor of Research Aspirations, Interests, and Skills Exploration (RAISE) co-authors)
• Co-Guest Editor, Special Collection: Patient Safety in Chiropractic Care and Manual Therapies, Chiropractic & Manual Therapies — 2025
• American Chiropractic Association Researcher of the Year — 2022
• Faculty of the Year, Davenport Campus, Palmer College — 2022
• Co-author, Best Research Paper Award, Association of Chiropractic Colleges and Research Agenda Conference (ACC-RAC) — 2022 (biopsychosocial and active-care perceptions among doctors of chiropractic and older patients)
• Executive Committee, Global Patient Safety Initiative, World Federation of Chiropractic (WFC) — 2023–present
• Member, National Institutes of Health (NIH) Pragmatic Trials Collaboratory (Community Health Improvement Core, 2025–present; Implementation Science Core, 2023–present)
• Member, National Institutes of Health (NIH)-Department of Defense (DOD)-Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Pain Management Collaboratory (PMC) (Engagement Science Workgroup, 2025–present; Older Adults Interest Group, 2024–present)
• Co-Chair, Research Aspirations, Interests, and Skills Exploration (RAISE) Committee, Palmer College — 2021–2025
• Member, Research Committee, World Federation of Chiropractic (WFC) — 2021–present
• Editorial roles: Chiropractic & Manual Therapies (CMT); Journal of Chiropractic Education (JCE); Associate Editor, BMC Musculoskeletal Disorders
• Member, Scientific Commission, The Clinical Compass
• Without Compensation (WOC) Appointment, Research & Development, Iowa City VA Health Care System
• Peer Reviewer, 45+ biomedical journals