CALL FOR ABSTRACTS — APHA 2021 Annual Meeting and Expo
Alcohol, Tobacco, and Other Drugs
Meeting theme: "Creating the Healthiest Nation: Strengthening Social Connectedness"
Submission Deadline: Sunday, March 28, 2021
The Alcohol, Tobacco, and Other Drugs (ATOD) Section invites submission of abstracts for presentation at the 2021 Annual Meeting & Expo during October 23-27.
The ATOD Section encourages abstracts that address the annual meeting theme: “Creating the Healthiest Nation: Strengthening Social Connectedness” under any of the submission categories described below. Further, the ATOD section values health equity in all content areas and encourages submissions that reflect a focus on social determinants of health, especially work centered on marginalized, vulnerable, and/or underrepresented populations. However, all abstracts related to substance use are welcome, along with submissions that cut across the topics, including efforts that focus on multiple drugs or strategies.
ABSTRACT SUBMISSION CATEGORIES, include:
A - Students: Outstanding Work (Award Candidates) The ATOD Section seeks to recognize promising work by students in any ATOD topic area. To be considered for an award, students must submit an abstract under the Student Outstanding Work Award Candidate category. Accepted abstracts will be included in a special poster session highlighting student work. Award winners will be selected from poster session participants and announced at the ATOD Section reception.
B - Alcohol Submissions under this category may address a range of alcohol-related topics, covering policy, prevention, intervention, harm reduction, treatment, recovery, education, and social/environmental impact.
C - Cannabis Submissions under this category may address novel research and evidence-based practice that will extend our understanding of cannabis initiation and use. These topics may include, but are not limited to issues of surveillance, policy, law, and social/ environmental impact/s, as well as issues related to health, safety, secondhand exposure, prevention, marketing, education, and treatment/cessation approaches. In addition, submissions may focus on the overlap between cannabis and other substance use.
D - Opioids Submissions under this category may address all aspects of opioid initiation and use, opioid use disorders, and/or the current opioid epidemic, including the cascading effects that penetrate all societal systems. Topics may include, but are not limited to policy, legal considerations, education, surveillance, assessment, prevention, intervention, harm reduction, care/treatment, and recovery.
E - Tobacco Submissions within this category may address tobacco products in all forms (e.g., cigarettes, cigars, little cigars, hookah, smokeless tobacco, and electronic delivery systems or e-cigarettes), patterns of use, secondhand smoke/aerosol exposure, tobacco control policies, product regulations, prevention, cessation, and other related topics. In addition, submissions may focus on the overlap between tobacco and other substance use. Submissions may focus on specific policy or intervention strategies, prevention or control initiatives, and initiatives directed toward specific populations (e.g., K-12 students, college students, minorities, women employees/workers).
F - Other Drugs Submissions under this category may address all aspects of other drug use (distinct from alcohol, tobacco, cannabis and opioids). Topics may include but are not limited to illicit drug use, prescription drug misuse, and polysubstance use.
I - Integrated Behavioral Health: Mental Health and Substance Use Submissions under this category may address research, education, interventions, and stigma across a wide range of co-occurring mental health and substance use problems. Special emphasis is encouraged on the ways by which substance use compromises and/or diminishes the optimal functioning of individuals, families, and communities. In addition, we seek submissions in partnership with the Mental Health Section for collaborative session/s that bridge these aspects of behavioral health.
ADDITIONAL INSTRUCTIONS:
Authors must submit abstracts electronically through the APHA abstract management web site: https://apha.confex.com/apha/2020/cfp.cgi. The web site provides complete instructions on the length and format of abstracts. Authors may also contact the Program Planning Chair, Elvira Elek (eelek@rti.org), for clarification or assistance if needed.
Session proposals are not solicited in the call for abstracts; however, they will be considered.
Submit an abstract for each individual presentation following the steps on the submission form.
Submit an abstract for the overarching session and in the ‘Comments to Organizer’ text box located on the title step of the submission form, indicate the abstract ID numbers and presenter names of those abstracts that should be included with the proposal. Also indicate that each abstract will be blind reviewed and accepted on its own merit and that all abstracts must be accepted in order for the entire proposal to be accepted.
Please contact the ATOD Program Chair, Elvira Elek (eelek@rti.org) for specific instructions regarding session proposals.
Structured abstracts are preferred for submission to the ATOD Section, Consequently, abstracts that do not reflect the following two formats may be less favorably scored by abstract reviewers.
Original research submissions: the abstract should include the following sections: Background, Methods, Results, and Conclusions.
Policy, descriptive, or other types of submissions: the abstract should include the following sections: Issue, Description, Lessons Learned, and Recommendations.
Abstracts are limited to 300 words or less.
All abstracts must include at least one measurable learning outcome that uses one of the following measurable action verbs: explain, demonstrate, analyze, formulate, discuss, compare, differentiate, describe, name, assess, evaluate, identify, design, define, or list. Please note that understand, know, and learn are NOT measurable learning outcomes and should not be used.
EXAMPLE: Compare risk of substance use disorders by gender and race/ethnicity.
All abstracts must be free of trade and/or commercial product names in order to qualify for continuing education credit; however, speakers may mention trade and/or commercial product names during their presentations.
EXAMPLE: State “a major tobacco company” rather than naming the business or its products.
Presenting authors must provide a conflict of interest disclosure and a qualification statement that specifically justifies their presentation of the material. A general statement of the author’s training or degrees earned is NOT sufficient.
EXAMPLE: I am qualified because I have worked in this area for the past 12 years. I was a member of the team that conceptualized this project and have been actively involved in all aspects of its execution, including the evaluation of outcomes described in this presentation.
Authors may indicate their preference for “oral only,” “poster only,” or “no preference” at submission. Oral sessions are limited and highly competitive. We encourage authors to select “no preference” to maximize likelihood of acceptance.
APHA and the ATOD Section values the ability to provide continuing education credit to physicians, nurses, health educators, veterinarians, 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:
An abstract free of trade and/or commercial product names.
At least one MEASURABLE outcome (DO NOT USE “To understand” or “To learn” as objectives, they are not measurable). Examples of Acceptable Measurable Action Words: Explain, Demonstrate, Analyze, Formulate, Discuss, Compare, Differentiate, Describe, Name, Assess, Evaluate, Identify, Design, Define or List.
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.
Contact Mighty Fine at mighty.fine@apha.org if you have any questions concerning continuing education credit. Please contact the ATOD Section program planning chair (Elvira Elek) for all other questions.
