2011 APHA SPECIAL SESSION REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS
Submission Deadline: Friday, February 25, 2011
The American Public Health Association (APHA) is now accepting proposals for Special Sessions scheduled during the 139th APHA Annual Meeting (October 29 - November 2, 2011), Washington, DC. The theme of the meeting is: "Healthy Communities Promote Healthy Minds & Bodies". These sessions are prestigious invited panels that are developed by the Members-at-Large of the Program Planning Committee with the direction and support of the APHA Executive Director and President.
These sessions are 90 minutes in length, theme-related and should be broad-based to appeal to a large cross-section of our membership. They should not be section-issue specific but rather should strive to present a balanced view of an issue. If the issue is controversial, both sides of the debate should be presented.
We are looking for session proposals in the following topic areas:
- Community Medicine and Public Health Transformation Further integrating public health in the future of community health centers
- Virtual Communities and Public Health Opportunities around social media; Role of media in portraying healthy images of a community
- Public Health Impacts of Economics Employment; Housing; Banks (payday lending; and high interest rates); Effects on Mental and Physical Health, Safety, Violence, Built Environment, Transportation)
- Environmental Health across the Life Span – All age groups and future generations Environmental exposures across the life span; 100th Anniversary of Environmental Health Section
- What is a Healthy Community? A Global Perspective What can we learn from social determinants of community health abroad? What makes a community healthy and safe?
- Healthy Youth and Healthy Communities What’s next for Recovery Act “Communities Putting Prevention to Work” grantees; Food in Schools; Built environment (parks); Sex, drugs and schools; How do we as adults behave, how is violence learned
- Funding Healthy Communities Philanthropy; Government; Business Sector; Lessons from abroad (i.e. The Taiwanese National Health Insurance system is primarily funded by the premiums paid collectively by the insured, employers, and central and local governments. Other revenues come from outside sources, such as fines on overdue premiums, public welfare lottery contributions, and the health surcharge on cigarettes, all of which supplement the system's income after meeting the mandated reserve fund's basic funding needs)
The proposal must identify one person as the session organizer and that person must complete the online conflict of interest/biodata form before submitting the proposal. The organizer is required to submit a session title, session overview (550 words or less), one of the above topic areas and up to 3 measurable learning objectives. In addition, the organizer must submit the name and contact information of each potential speaker along with their presentation title. Once that information has been submitted on-line, each speaker will receive an email which links them to the submission forms to complete their abstract of 250 words or less, learning objectives and a conflict of interest/biodata form.
The session organizer will handle all communication with APHA and share all relevant information with speakers. In addition, the session organizer will obtain any additional information/materials/logistics requested by APHA from speakers by set deadlines and cooperate with APHA staff to ensure compliance with CE requirements.
Selection Criteria
The APHA Program Committee Members-at-Large participate in the planning, implementation and evaluation of all APHA-Special Sessions. In the selection phase, they will consider the proposed session using the following criteria.
- Relevance of topic to public health
- Prominence of speakers and likelihood of significant interest
- Appropriate, well written, and clearly stated session objectives
- Methodologies of a quality consistent with session content, objectives, and appropriate for effective learning
- Completed BioData/Conflict of Interest Form for session organizers for each planner and faculty that demonstrate expertise/credentials relevant to the proposed topic
Acceptances of proposals will be made known to the session organizer by April 1, 2011.
For more information contact Donna Wright.
Note: Consistent with longstanding APHA policy, APHA does not reimburse members for Annual Meeting expenses even if speaking in a Special Session. On rare occasions, APHA will help offset travel costs of prominent non-members, but such exceptions require the personal approval of the Executive Director and proposed sessions should not assume such costs are acceptable.
Program Planner Contact Information:
Donna Wright
Manager, Scientific Session Development
American Public Health Association
800 I Street NW
Washington, DC 20001
Phone: 202-777-2477
Fax: 202-777-2530
donna.wright@apha.org