CALL FOR ABSTRACTS — APHA 2023 Annual Meeting and Expo

Community Based Public Health Caucus

Meeting theme: "Creating the Healthiest Nation: Overcoming Social and Ethical Challenges"

Submission Deadline: Friday, March 31, 2023

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 2023 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.

In light of the 2023 theme of Creating the Healthiest Nation: Overcoming Social & Ethical Challenges, we are particularly interested in abstracts that engage with this theme, whether through the specific topics that highlight the theme or as a part of a submission to one of the other topics below. 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.

We are accepting abstracts for the following topics:

  • CBPR and Place-Based Community Transformation
  • Community Voices: Community Member Perspectives on Community-Academic Partnerships and CBPR
    Submissions to this topic should center the perspectives of community partners within community-academic and other types of CBPR partnerships. The presenting author (or a co-presenting author) must be a community member (Note: APHA only allows one official presenter per abstract; our Caucus supports co-presenting of 2 authors).
  • Community-Driven Work to Transform Policy and Address Social Challenges
  • Lessons Learned from CBPR Projects
  • Measures, Methods, and Evaluation in CBPR
  • Overcoming Social and Ethical Challenges through Community-Based Participatory Research
    Discussions and examples of CBPR work seeking to overcome social and ethical challenges.
  • Participatory Approaches to Address Social and Structural Determinants of Health
  • The Ethical Challenges of Community-Based Participatory Research
    Specific focus on understanding and addressing the ethical challenges of community-based participatory research.
  • The Power of CBPR to Achieve Health Equity
  • The Scholarship of CBPR: Innovative Strategies to Communicate Findings for Change
  • Youth Roundtable: Youth Leading the Way to Healthier Communities
    Submissions to this topic should center the perspectives and experiences of youth researchers. The presenting author (or a co-presenting author) must be a youth (13-24-years-old) (Note: APHA only allows one official presenter per abstract; our Caucus supports co-presenting of 2 authors).

Abstract guidelines and requirements:

Abstracts must be limited to 250 words or less. Abstracts can be structured in one of two ways for the CBPHC: 

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.

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. 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 and contact information of the lead facilitator (proposed moderator)
  3. Name and contact information for the contact person for organizing the full session
  4. Brief overview of the full session and how the individual abstracts are integrated
  5. At least 1 learning objective for the full session
  6. 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).

Please note: each individuals abstract text is limited to 250 words and follows all the instructions related to individual abstracts.

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES FOR WRITING YOUR ABSTRACT

Please check out our 2023 CBPH Caucus Abstract Guide for more information about writing and submitting your abstract for APHA 2023.

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 2023 meeting may face challenges with the costs of attending APHA. Unfortunately, the CBPH Caucus currently does not have funding for travel scholarships. 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.

CONTACT INFORMATION

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


Ready?

Program Planner Contact Information:

Rachel Berkowitz, DrPH, MPH
rachel.l.berkowitz@sjsu.edu


and

Angela Young-Brinn,
confidenceplus2000@gmail.com


and

Jennifer Castillo,
jennifer@resiliencycollaborative.org


and

Zuleima Cortez,
zuleimacortezzz@gmail.com


and

Nina Lozano-Serrano,
karinalozanoserrano@gmail.com