The Law Section sessions provide an opportunity to present to APHA members new and emerging research and analysis of topics related to public health law and policy, health law, international health law, and human rights law. The Law Section encourages submission of abstracts related to this year's Annual Meeting theme - Health in All Policies - as well other timely topics related to public health law and policy.

We encourage submission of all proposals and panel submissions that explore the mechanisms of and the effect(s) of law on any public health topic including emerging and traditional issues. The Law Section sponsors two general types of sessions: (1) those that seek to educate a lay audience on the current state of or application of the law as applied to a public health issue, and (2) those that would benefit an audience with legal expertise. Toward this end, please note in your abstract whether your presentation targets a lay audience or an audience with legal expertise.

The Law Section reviews abstracts under the three categories described below. The final topics (and titles) of the panel sessions for the conference will depend on the abstracts that are received. With that in mind, please select and identify the category that most closely reflects your submission. To facilitate the submission process, links to abstract submission guidelines for each category are provided below. We have also created a document to help authors determine which category best fits his or her work. We strongly recommend that you refer to these documents when deciding under which category to submit your abstract.

Law Section Submission Categories:

• Jurisprudence
  Jurisprudence submission guidelines are available here . Of particular interest are abstracts that explore the philosophical underpinnings and issues that arise in public health law practice and research. Abstracts submitted under the Jurisprudence category focus on issues dealing with jurisprudence, theoretical problems in research and practice in public health law, as well as ethics and non-Anglophone or non-Western legal theory. This category would also cover papers and abstracts that propose novel or detailed descriptions of new or proposed models of or reformulations of U.S. law, or broad, theoretical discussions of the use of litigation in the public health context. The Law Section is particularly interested in papers dealing with jurisprudential and theoretical problems; examples include, but are not limited to: privacy, cyberlaw, human rights law, issues of rationing health services, and issues of public health research abuses. Also, any abstracts that focus on the teaching of public health law theory, regardless of topic area, should be submitted in this category.
• Practice
  Practice submission guidelines are available here. Public health law practice is varied. From lawyers working for government to lawyers in private practice, non-lawyers working in policy to lawyers in policy and academic settings, the variation of law “on the street” is considerable. Abstracts in this area might include:

  • Discussion of public health powers and authorities in practice;

  • Practice  points (e.g., drafting, litigation approaches, clinical work);

  • Current policy efforts in a particular area;

  • Practical models or uses for litigation in public health, and;

  • Politics and public health (e.g., implications for public health).

• Research
  Research submission guidelines are available here. Public health law research is the scientific study of the relation of law and legal practices to population health, including both direct relationships between law and health, as well as relationships mediated through the effects of law on health behaviors and other processes and structures that affect population health. Such research encompasses both qualitative and quantitative studies using experimental, quasi-experimental, observational, or participatory designs. Methods include, but are not limited to, health impact assessments, formal decision analyses, simulations, econometric analyses, laboratory and social experiments, survey, interview, and focus-group studies, systematic reviews, and meta-analyses. Please indicate in your abstract your methodological approach. Any theoretical discussions of social science methods or other methodological issues in study design also should be submitted in this category.

*Note that the Law Section will be collaborating on a joint session. Abstracts on this topic in Practice, Research, or Jurisprudence are welcome. The joint session is:

Affordable Care Act Implementation (with PHEHP). This session will focus on the intersection of the fields of public health education/promotion and public health law as related to the implementation of the Affordable Care Act. Topics may include: health promotion as “community benefit” activities for hospitals as required for federal tax exemption, innovative reimbursement mechanisms, and legal innovations related to implementation of the ACA. Abstracts will be jointly reviewed by the Law Section and Public Health Education and Health Promotion Section.

Important abstract guidelines:

• You must indicate your intended audience in your abstract or in the “Note to Planner” field (e.g., public health lawyers or others with legal expertise, public health professionals without legal expertise, etc.).

• Please refer to submission guidelines for the category under which you are submitting. Abstracts will be evaluated based on responsiveness to the CFA and abstract submission guidelines (links available above).

• We highly recommend drafting the abstract and learning objectives offline in a word document so you can edit them before pasting into the submission form.

• The time allotment for presentations in our panels is usually 15 minutes.

• We give awards for best student abstract, so please note in the “Note to Planner” field if you are a student. We highly encourage the submission of student work.

• Abstracts are limited to 250 words.

• Do not include names or identifying information in the text of the abstract.

• Do not submit work that is in-progress and will not be complete by the time of the meeting. Preliminary findings are acceptable, but we do not want presentations just on the study design.

* We also strongly encourage you to check the dates of the meeting to ensure that you are able to attend if your abstract is selected. With a high volume of abstracts submitted and only a limited number of presentation time, we do not want to accept presentations if the research will not be ready to present or if the investigators are unable to attend.

 
Panel Submissions

Panels are groupings of individual abstracts. Each presentation requires an individual abstract submission. Panel proposals must adhere to the following procedure:

1. One abstract must be submitted for each individual presentation with a unique title and abstract body. Do not include names or other identifying information in the body of the abstracts. During submission process, please indicate in the “Note to Planner” field that the abstract is to be considered as part of a panel and note whether author would still be interested in presenting the abstract if the panel is not accepted as a whole.

2. Panel organizer must send an email to the Program Chair, Jennifer Ibrahim, at jibrahim@temple.edu with the following information: (1) the panel title; (2) submission #s of all abstracts to be considered part of the panel; (3) a brief paragraph explaining the objective of the panel; and (4) the names of other panel presenters.

Continuing Education Credit

APHA values the ability to provide continuing education credit to physicians, nurses, health educators, and those certified in public health at its annual meeting. Please complete all required information when submitting an abstract so members can claim credit for attending your session. These credits are necessary for members to keep their licenses and credentials.

For a session to be eligible for Continuing Education Credit, each presenter, panelist, discussant, and/or faculty must provide:

1) An abstract free of trade and/or commercial product names;

 2) At least one MEASURABLE SINGLE objective (“to understand” or “to learn” are not measurable objectives and compound objectives are not acceptable).  Use ONLY the following Measurable Action Verbs:

Explain, Demonstrate, Analyze, Formulate, Discuss, Compare, Differentiate, Describe, Name, Assess, Evaluate, Identify, Design, Define or List.

3) A signed Conflict of Interest Disclosure Form with a relevant qualification statement;

Example of Acceptable Biographical Qualification Statement: (I have been the principal or co-principal of multiple federally funded grants focusing on the epidemiology of drug abuse, HIV prevention and co-occurring mental and drug use disorders. Among my scientific interests has been the development of strategies for preventing HIV and STDs in out-of-treatment drug users.)

4) All continuing education learning content must be of sound science or professional practice and serve to maintain, develop, or increase the knowledge, skills and professional competence of the health professional. Learning content should be evidence-based if available. A list of over 30 areas will be provided online for you to choose from. You will be asked to choose at least one or up to 6 areas that your presentation will address.

Thank you for your assistance in making your session credit worthy. Contact Annette Ferebee at annette.ferebee@apha.org if you have any questions concerning continuing education. For program questions, contact the the Program Planner for the Law Section - Jennifer Ibrahim.

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Ready?

Program Planner Contact Information:

Jennifer K. Ibrahim, PhD MPH MA
College of Public Health
Temple University
1938 Liacouras Walk 2nd floor
Philadelphia, PA 19122
Phone: 215-204-9657
jibrahim@temple.edu