CALL FOR ABSTRACTS — APHA 2024 Annual Meeting and Expo

Human Rights Forum

Meeting theme: "Rebuilding Trust in Public Health and Science"

Submission Deadline: Friday, March 29, 2024

The Human Rights Forum of the American Public Health Association (APHA) seeks abstracts for the 2024 APHA Annual Meeting and Expo, to be held in Minneapolis Minnesota, October 27-30, 2024.  

Human Rights are identified as a guide for public health. Under this rights-based approach, health disparities can be understood as rights violations embedded at multiple levels of political, structural, and individual.  Additionally, the rights-based approach establishes space for actionable strategies that empower collaboratives, collectives and individuals for the purpose of emboldening government response to diversity, violations of discrimination, and collective action. The right to health framework incentivizes human rights through improved access and utilization that will encourage an improved quality of life through an empirical and evidence-based approach.  

The Human Rights Forum seeks abstracts this year that analyze the different manifestations of injustices and human rights violations in the context of health, education, food, shelter, immigration, and provide strategic solutions to narrowing such inequalities with a lens of women's rights and women's issues, environmental rights and issues, and incarceration. Utilizing the models of Human Rights framework, such as partnership building, collective action and community driven assessments and research to lead political activism.

  • Human Rights Issues in Acute and Post-Acute Care Systems
    • Freedom includes the right and liberty of autonomy to one’s health and body and to be free from interference. Being free from medical prejudice, torture, abuse, neglect, non-consensual treatment and experiment, and discrimination is a basic human right. This session will address issues in a system/institution such as end-of-life decision, abused long-term facility resident, unethical clinical trial, and many others. Both studies and stories are highly encouraged to promote treating each individual with respect, provide care options with transparency, and secure informed consent.
  • Human Rights, Ethics, and Public Health, a Global Focus
    • Ethical challenges of global public health addressing issues such as war, international migration/refugees, food and water security, global climate change, sustainability, international aid/institutions.  We especially welcome proposals addressing ethical challenges related to providing public health services in conflict zones. 
  • Human Rights, Health and Systemic Issues in Prisons
    • Mass incarceration (MI)  is a pressing public health issue.  It negatively that impacts millions of individuals’ lives and limits the opportunities for restoration and reintegrationAmericans directly, and impacts all Americans indirectly. MI is a systemic issue. Minorities such as African American and Latinx tend to be overrepresented within the prison system across the U.S. This section will address issues related to human rights violations such as violence, unfair sentencing, over-policing, policing style, lack of access to mental health care, poor sanitation, over used of isolation technics for punishment, geographical lack of economic opportunity after leaving the prison system, wrongful convictions,  and stigma among other related impacts of MI. Any policy analysis, original research, and case report is welcome. Studies related to underserved populations such as Black/African-American and Latinx women and children are highly encouraged to submit to this section. 
  • Human Rights, Peace and Public Health
    • The value of military spending globally has reached $2.24 trillion U.S.D. in 2022. This section invites abstracts that discuss war and violence as a determinant of health. Empirical studies showing how the confluencehow confluence of unfair trades, political power, trafficking and weapon business affect human rights to safety, education, dignity, and health are highly recommended. Discussion about how to address war and violence as a determinant and best practice to reduce discrimination against immigrants and refugees is also welcome. 
  • Human Rights, Social Justice, and Collective Action
    Human Rights reflects on constitutional and political action and justice, social and economic action and justice, all of which affect our environmental, biological, and psychological outcomes as humans. This session invites researchers who are interested in empirically explaining how utilization of the human rights framework captures collective action and advocates for social change.
  • Violence, Mental Health and Trauma Informed Care
    The trauma informed focus on violence and anti-social behavior in development, mental health and functionality. This section will address collective action and policy integration surrounding health and economic equity and practices related to Peace over violence restorative justice.

Abstracts must be submitted under one of the categories above. All submissions must relate to human rights as a basis for public health. Abstracts are limited to 250 words. Referral to web pages or URLs may not be used for abstracts.  An author may not submit the same abstract to more than one section, SPIG, Caucus or another Forum of the APHA.  Oral presentations are generally 13-15 minutes in length, with 4 presenters per session being standard. Those presenting posters should display and be available to answer questions throughout the scheduled 60 minute poster session.  If you have any questions, please contact the Co-Chairs Programming Officers.  

 

Abstracts should be submitted in one of the following two formats: 

 

  1. Structural abstract format (suitable for abstracts on scientific research) 
  • Background
  • Human Rights Framework
  • Objectives
  • Methods
  • Results
  • Conclusions

  1. Alternative format (suitable for abstracts about policy, programs, interventions, and other types of research evaluations): 
  • Background
  • Human Rights Framework
  • Description
  • Results or Lessons Learned
  • Recommendations

 

Please Note: APHA does not provide any financial support for author attendance at the Annual Meeting. All expenses incurred for presenting at APHA are the sole responsibility of the author.  Presenters must pay their own APHA membership, registration, travel and lodging.


Ready?

Program Planner Contact Information:

Wei-Chen Lee, PhD
weilee@utmb.edu


and

Nicole Garrett,
decipherneed@gmail.com


and

Robyn Espinosa, PhD, MPH
robynoespinosa@gmail.com