CALL FOR ABSTRACTS — APHA's 2018 Annual Meeting & Expo

Community Based Public Health Caucus

Meeting theme: Creating the Healthiest Nation: Health Equity Now

Submission Deadline: Friday, March 2, 2018

COMMUNITY-BASED PUBLIC HEALTH CAUCUS CALL FOR ABSTRACTS invites your abstract submissions related to the science and practice of community-based public health.

OVERVIEW of the COMMUNITY-BASED PUBLIC HEALTH CAUCUS: The Community-Based Public Health Caucus, approved by the APHA Executive Board in 2001, is guided by the belief that community lies at the heart of public health, and that research and interventions work best when they are rooted in the values, knowledge, expertise, and interests of the community. We believe that health encompasses the physical, mental, spiritual, social, environmental, and economic well-being of a community and its members. We recognize the power of equitable partnerships connecting community members, community-based organizations, academic institutions, and health agencies in order to address the myriad of health issues affecting communities today. We understand that, in order for these partnerships to be equitable, and for interventions and research to be community-based, community members must participate fully in the identification of health issues as well as in the selection, design, data collection and analysis, implementation and evaluation of programs that address these issues. Further information about the Caucus and its guiding principles can be found at www.cbphcaucus.org.

CALL for ABSTRACTS for the 2018 ANNUAL MEETING: We invite abstracts that advance our knowledge of community-academic partnering in multi-disciplinary collaboration and a diversity of community-based public health activities, including basic and applied research projects, interventions, teaching and service learning projects. Of particular interest are presentations of initiatives that put community-based organizations in the lead position. Presentations that provide participants with enhanced knowledge and skills to conduct community-based public health activities as well as those that explicitly describe the application of community-based participatory research (CBPR) to promote healthy communities, especially through policy change and decision-making at the local, state and federal levels, are also of great interest.

2018 Annual meeting of APHA theme is Creating the Healthiest Nation: Health Equity- The time is NOW. APHA lists health equity as a  guiding priority and core value. APHA can shine a light on health equity by using it as a 2018 convention theme. Health equity, in the public health context means everyone has the opportunity to attain their highest level of health. According to our own doctrine on the APHA website, we achieve health equity by valuing all people equally and by, “addressing inequities in the places where people are born, grow, live, work, learn and age.” Inequities create barriers that prevent individuals and communities from reaching their full potential. We join with community partners to address factors that influence health including employment, racism, sexism, economic status, sectarianism, housing, education, healthcare access, public safety and food access.

In light of 2018 theme, we are particularly interested in abstracts that address:

  • Building self-awareness in CBPR efforts to ensure health equity
  • CBPHC Business Meeting
  • CBPHC Youth Council Business Meeting
  • CCPH 20th Anniversary Celebration
  • Community voices: Community member perspectives on community-academic partnerships and CBPR (presenting author must be a community member)
  • Community-driven health equity work
  • Ensuring the right to health through participatory approaches
  • Lessons learned from CBPR projects
  • Measures, methods, and evaluation in CBPR
  • Participatory approaches to address social determinants of health
  • The scholarship of CBPR (presenting author must be an alumni of the Kellogg Health Scholar Post-doctoral Program or antecedent programs)
  • Youth Roundtable: Youth leading the way to healthier communities (presenting author must be a student/youth)
We are also seeking abstracts about community-university partnerships or other types of collaborations, the development of partnerships, capacity-building, dissemination approaches for CBPR findings, and innovative strategies, programs, models, and best practices that address public health issues.

Abstract guidelines and requirements:

Abstracts must be limited to 250 words or less.

Abstracts can be structured in the following ways listed below.

Structured Abstract Format:

  • Background: Study objectives, hypothesis, or a description of the problem;
  • Methods: Study design, including a description of participants, procedures, measures, and appropriate statistical analyses; dates of data collection;
  • Results: Specific results in summary form; and
  • Conclusions: Description of the main outcome of the study.

An alternative format, suited for abstracts about policy, programs, interventions, and other types of research evaluations, may be used:

  • Issues: A short summary of the issue(s) addressed;
  • Description: Description of the project, experience, service, or advocacy program;
  • Lessons Learned: A brief description of the results of the project; and
  • Recommendations: A brief statement of next steps.

2) Submission

  • Indicate if you wish to present the abstract as an oral or poster presentation.  APHA has general guidelines for each format option. There are limited slots available for oral presentations, so please give the Program Committee as many options as possible.
  • Do not include your name or contact information in the text portion as this prohibits blind peer review.

ABSTRACT REVIEW PROCESS: All abstracts are peer-reviewed by both community and academic members of the Caucus. They will be considered for oral, poster or roundtable presentation, unless authors indicate a preference. Abstracts are evaluated for their quality and the degree to which their content is consistent with the principles of the Community-Based Public Health Caucus and the 2018 APHA Meeting theme. If your abstract is accepted for presentation, you are required to present material as stated in the peer-reviewed abstract.

INSTRUCTIONS for FULL SESSION PROPOSALS: We also invite submissions of proposals for full sessions (90 minutes). These sessions will consist of four to five presentations (plus a moderator if necessary) that share a common theme, ideally related to the meeting theme. Please note that each individual abstract to be included in a full session must be submitted through the APHA electronic abstract submission process. Each abstract will be reviewed independently, and be subject to the same blind peer-review process as other abstracts. Due to a very limited number of sessions available for oral presentations, in order for a full session proposal to be considered, each individual abstract from the proposed full session must be accepted on its own merit. If all abstracts are not accepted, the full session will not be considered. However, the individually accepted abstracts will be considered for presentation together within another topic area session. In addition to each individual abstract submission, a one-page overview of the proposed full session must be submitted directly to the CBPH program planners (See contact information at the bottom of this page).

This one-page overview should include:

  1. Full session title
    2. Name of the lead facilitator and the contact person for the full session
    3. Brief overview of the full session and how the individual abstracts are integrated
    4. List the individual abstracts for the full session in presentation order, including the following information: abstract number; abstract titles; author(s); time allocated for each presentation (including discussion).
  2. Please note: abstract text is limited to 250 words.

    SUGGESTIONS FOR FUNDRAISING:  We are most interested in abstracts submitted for presentation by community-academic partners. We know that co-authors from community-based organizations whose abstracts are accepted for presentation during the 2018 meeting may face challenges with the costs of attending APHA. Unfortunately, the CBPH Caucus currently does not have funding for travel scholarships, but we plan to raise funds in advance of the annual meeting. We encourage authors to review, “Suggestions for Fundraising for APHA,” a guide compiled by other Caucus members on ways to fundraise which includes templates for writing letters to funders and calculating your expenses. We invite you to download the guide from our website by going to www.cbphcaucus.org and visiting our resources page.

    OPPORTUNITIES FOR YOUTH INVOLVED IN CBPH ENDEAVORS: We value young people as the next generation of CBPH activists. True to our vision, we work to support young public health leaders and encourage their attendance at APHA. We ask community-academic partnerships that involve students to please support these students in co-presenting especially, but not limited to, roundtable or poster-sessions (e.g., high school students participating in community-based public health research or activism). Young people 13-25 can participate and become active in the CBPH Caucus Youth Council (visit the Youth Council's page on our website www.cbphcaucus.org for more information). Students under 17 who attend must be accompanied by an adult chaperone. Please see above, “SUGGESTIONS FOR FUNDRAISING” for more information about youth attending APHA.

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 must provide:

1. an abstract free of trade and/or commercial product names
2. at least one MEASURABLE objective (DO NOT USE “understand” or “to learn” as objectives, because they are not measureable).

Examples of Acceptable Measurable Action Words:  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. See an example of an acceptable Qualification Statement on the online Disclosure form.

Thank you for your assistance in making our session credit worthy.

CONTACT INFORMATION:
Please feel free to contact the CBPH Caucus program planners (see contact information below) should you have any questions regarding your submission.

Patricia Piechowski, MPH, MSW, MA, Michigan Institute for Clinical & Health Research, University of Michigan, 2800 Plymouth Rd., Building 400, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, Phone: (734)998-7632, kwikwi@umich.edu 

Tonya Roberson, MPH, College of Nursing - Biobehavioral Health Science, University of Illinois at Chicago, 845 S. Damen, Chicago, IL 60616, Phone: 7739793918, tonyaroberson25@yahoo.com

Adam Paberzs, MPH, Outreach, Partnerships and Implementation Science, Michigan Institute for Clinical & Health Research, 2800 Plymouth Road, Building 400, Ann Arbor, MI 48109-2800, Phone: 734-763-8880, adampabe@med.umich.edu

Juanita Booker-Vaughns, EdD, MaEd, Charles R. Drew University of Medicine & Science, Community-based Public Health Caucus, 601 South Lewis Street, Orange County, CA 92868, Phone: (800) 716-9598, toreyon64@yahoo.com


Ready?

Program Planner Contact Information:

Adam Paberzs, MPH
Outreach, Partnerships and Implementation Science
Michigan Institute for Clinical & Health Research
2800 Plymouth Road, Building 400
Ann Arbor, MI 48109-2800
Phone: 734-763-8880
adampabe@med.umich.edu

and
Juanita Booker-Vaughns, EdD, MaEd
Charles R. Drew University of Medicine & Science
Community-based Public Health Caucus
601 South Lewis Street
Orange County, CA 92868
Phone: (800) 716-9598
toreyon64@yahoo.com

and
Patricia Piechowski, MPH, MSW, MA
Michigan Institute for Clinical & Health Research
University of Michigan
2800 Plymouth Rd.
Building 400
Ann Arbor, MI 48109
Phone: (734)998-7632
kwikwi@umich.edu

and
Tonya Roberson, MPH
College of Nursing - Biobehavioral Health Science
University of Illinois at Chicago
845 S. Damen
Chicago, IL 60616
Phone: 7739793918
tonyaroberson25@yahoo.com