CALL FOR ABSTRACTS — APHA 2025 Annual Meeting and Expo
Public Health Education and Health Promotion
Meeting theme: "Making the Public’s Health a National Priority"
Submission Deadline: Sunday, March 30, 2025
PHEHP invites abstract and session proposal submissions that address this year’s APHA theme, "Rebuilding Trust in Public Health and Science"as well as those addressing the current and relevant health education, promotion, and communication themes noted below. Descriptions are provided to assist you in determining the best assignment for your abstract submission.
To submit an abstract for the PHEHP Student Award Contest and for instructions, please use the following link:
A Matter of Trust – Discussing the impacts of public trust in health agencies on health behaviors and policy solutions.
Advancing Health Education and Prevention: Innovative Strategies Across Lifespan and Conditions
Advancing Health Equity: Community Solutions and Social Determinants of Health
Advancing Public Health Practice through Simulation, Curricular Innovation, and Equity-Driven Training
Advancing Sexual and Reproductive Health: Education, Prevention, and Policy in Practice Abstracts that focus on interventions that promote behaviors that prevent or reduce the risk of pregnancy, HIV, and other sexually transmitted infections/disease. Priority will be given to abstracts that discuss outcomes/results.
Applying Theoretical Frameworks to Enhance Health Promotion Across the Lifespan
Behavioral Health and Risk Reduction in College Populations
Bridging Gaps in Chronic Disease Prevention and Management
Building Health Workforce Capacity to Advance Population Health This session highlights innovative approaches to training healthcare professionals and community health workers to improve delivery of health education, promote disease prevention, and support self-management programs. Attendees will explore strategies for increasing workforce readiness and the impact of targeted education on population health outcomes.
Building Together: Community Partnerships Advancing Public Health Equity and Innovation
Built Environment, Community Design, and Public Health: Shaping Healthier Communities The built environment affects the health of communities in multiple ways. Designing and building places that promote healthful behaviors involves the efforts of coalitions, agencies, and communities as they attempt to change the local environment to create daily opportunities for healthy living. Such changes include increasing access to healthy food options, decreasing access to unhealthy food options, creating physical activity-friendly neighborhoods and communities, building exercise facilities, and engaging in community planning to design health into everyday life. Abstracts submissions of successful programs/initiatives that improve opportunities for healthy living within their communities through improvements to the built environment and/or community design are encouraged. There is special interest in abstracts that involve community design/city planning.
Child and Adolescent Health Disparities and Social Determinants of Child and Adolescent Health The health status of children and adolescents is influenced by a myriad of biological, physiological, psychological, and behavioral factors undergirded by numerous social factors that interact at the personal, familial, community, and national levels. Health disparities are thought to have origins in early childhood and persist over time and are more likely to occur among children and adolescents in communities with a high prevalence of poverty, environmental stressors, and financially challenged schools. We are seeking abstracts pertaining to the social determinants of child and adolescent health disparities.
Coffee Talk: Advancing Public Health through Education, Advocacy, and Empowerment: Engaging and Networking with Public Health Education & Health Promotion and Mental Health Sections
College Student Health and Well-Being: Behaviors, Communication, and Prevention Strategies
College Wellness in Context: Mental Health, Belonging, and Institutional Responsibility
Community Health Workers in Public Health Education and Health Promotion (organized jointly with the Community Health Worker section)
Community Resilience and Response: Strengthening Public Health Systems Through Preparedness, Advocacy, and Recovery
Community-Engaged Approaches to Diabetes Prevention and Management in Underserved Populations
Connecting Through Screens: Social and Mobile Media in Public Health Campaigns (organized by HCWG) Innovative studies capitalize on digital media tools in the contexts of HIV, suicide prevention, and social distancing. Creating an environment for social interaction, media show promising potential for social connection and health behavior simulation. This session features five studies creatively using media and influencers in public health communication.
Convening Communities to Integrate Brain Health into Existing Health Department Initiatives The Risk Reduction Learning Collaboratives (RLCs), organized by the Alzheimer’s Association in collaboration with several public health organizations, aim to enhance public health efforts in dementia risk reduction. In 2024, 70 health departments participated in these RLCs, which included in-person training sessions and a conference. The program focused on the intersection of social determinants of health and modifiable risk factors for dementia, providing participants with the knowledge and tools to develop and implement effective risk reduction strategies. The symposium will showcase the development, implementation, and impact of the RLCs, highlighting their role in strengthening public health initiatives.
Credentialing, mentorship, and workforce development: Building a future-ready public health workforce
Culturally Tailored Health Communication Strategies and Trusted Messengers to Advance Health Equity (organized by HCWG) This section highlights initiatives focused on developing effective health communication. Emphasis is placed on trusted messengers, including healthcare providers and community leaders, in addressing barriers like medical mistrust, social determinants of health, and limited access. Specific health areas covered include multimorbidity among Black adults, maternal mental health/postpartum depression, clinical trial participation, breast cancer screening for African American women, and chronic disease prevention/management.
Department of Health Innovative Practices to Improve Population Health
Developing Social Justice Competencies to Improve Health Disparities Research: A Community Engagement-based Approach
Digital Innovations in Health Communication: From Geofencing to AI-Driven Messaging (organized by HCWG) This session focuses on the use of technologies to address gaps in health communication. Examples in various health contexts demonstrate promising opportunities to reach intended populations, engage audiences, improve access to health information, and bridge disparities.
Driving Impact Through Implementation: Advancing HPV Prevention and Communication Strategies in Diverse Settings
Evaluating and Advancing Health Education and Behavioral Interventions for Underserved Populations
Examining Factors and Challenges in Cancer Prevention, Screening, Survivorship, and Care (organized by HCWG) This section analyzes key dimensions of the cancer continuum—prevention, screening, survivorship, and care—while examining demographic and social determinants shaping behaviors and outcomes. These presentations will discuss challenges, including barriers to prevention, constraints in survivorship counseling, and caregiver burden, alongside the role of community engagement and information-seeking in screening. Emphasizing the necessity of culturally adapted interventions, these studies collectively illuminate the multifaceted influences and obstacles in cancer care across diverse populations.
Facing a Culture of Gambling: Elevating Problem Gambling as a Public Health Issue
From Hesitancy to Action: Innovating Vaccine Communication Across Populations and Lifespans (organized by HCWG)
Generative AI Tools for Cancer Communication: Potential Opportunities and Pitfalls
Grounded in Equity: Exploring Social Determinants Through Community Voices and Lived Experience
Health Literacy in Context: Examining Communication, Measurement, and the Digital Landscape (organized by HCWG) This session focuses on health literacy through the lenses of communication, assessment, and the digital landscape. It highlights ongoing challenges in patient understanding and public navigation of complex health information, assesses health literacy measurement tools, and introduces updated guidance for accessible digital health tools. Emphasis is placed on digital health literacy as a key factor in equity, preparedness, and technology adoption, alongside risks of digital exclusion.
How to successfully plan for primary prevention activities, get buy-in, and demonstrate their worth
Innovations in Public Health Education: Strategies Across Populations and Priorities
Innovations in Training and Education for Challenging Clinical Conditions and Scenarios (organized by HCWG) Health care providers, clinicians, and practitioners often face challenging situations when making diagnoses and counseling patients in decision-making. Challenging scenarios discussed range from ethnically complex care decisions, stigmatized conditions, fear and misconceptions, to conversations about serious illness. This session covers innovative strategies to improve care communication through training approaches, new insights available from research, and education tools to support critical patient and practitioner conversations.
Innovative Community-Based Approaches to Hypertension Screening, Monitoring, and Management
Innovative Strategies to Advance Health Equity and Access in Underserved Communities
Leveraging Digital Tools for Health Equity and Literacy (organized by HCWG)
Making the Case for Policy Change: Research and Communication Strategies for Impact and Advocacy (organized by HCWG) Protecting the public from misleading claims, imagery, and manipulative marketing practices is a critical part of advancing policy and regulatory practices, but so are developing compelling narratives, accurate terminology and visualization that move populations and policymakers into action. This session explores findings from testing packaging of cannabis edibles, the nuances of language used in tobacco product claims, documentation of geographic disparities in marketing of tobacco products, terminology used by journalists in risk communication about bird flu among high risk audiences, and methods for communicating data stories that spur policy change.
Next-Gen Public Health: Innovation in Education, AI Adoption and Empowerment (organized by HCWG)
PHEHP Materials Contest Oral Session
PHEHP Rejected Abstracts
PHEHP Student Awards Oral
PHEHP Student Awards Poster
Power in Partnership: Community-Led and Culturally Responsive Health Promotion
Promoting Lung Health Through Education, Engagement, and Prevention
Public Health Potpourri: Innovations, Equity, and Emerging Topics
Public health microbiome education across the curriculum: Online modules on breastfeeding, diet and antibiotic
Science, Justice and Health Equity In keeping with the 2025 APHA Conference theme of “Making the Public's Health a National Priority,” the PHEHP Section is committed to ensuring that health education and health promotion is at the forefront of contributing to public health science, justice and health equity. In order to achieve justice for all, we have to pay particular attention to advancing health equity. Understanding health equity and what it means within the context of public health education and health promotion is paramount to our success. From our previous sponsored sessions on health equity, we know that health equity requires a multi-disciplinary approach that explores not only health disparities but also institutional and systemic change (including addressing such diverse topics as countering implicit bias, undoing racism and ending brutality). Health equity is a key area that must be addressed and includes a focus on building community power especially among marginalized populations. We are prioritizing incorporating these core principles of science, justice and health equity into our scientific sessions with a particular focus on taking action by building community power and creating systemic change.
Storytelling, Social Influence, and the Media Ecosystem: Advancing Health Behavior Through Mass Communication (organized by HCWG) Media can serve as the carrier of health interventions and contribute to the information landscape. This session presents three mass media-based health interventions and two studies exploring media’s role in the information ecosystem.
Strategies for Reaching Online, Social, and In-Person Communities with Health Communication (organized by HCWG) This session explores effective strategies for reaching key audiences with health messages covering a variety of topics. Researchers and communicators share insights on identifying health messages that resonate with audiences, effective ways to connect with or create online communities, and how to maximize approaches using in-person outreach. Presenters will discuss the importance of tailored messaging among in-language and other highly targeted audiences using social marketing methods.
Sustainability of research partnerships and programs: Harnessing the power of systems science and community engagement
Tailored Communication for Equity: Reaching Special Populations through Innovative Health Strategies (organized by HCWG) This session highlights innovative health communication research focused on special populations, including individuals with opioid use disorder, justice-involved women, non-English-speaking communities, older adults, and immigrant families. Through digital tools, multilingual interventions, and culturally responsive messaging, presenters explore how communication strategies can address health disparities and promote behavior change in populations that have been historically underserved.
The Public Health Imperative of Latino Youth Connectedness: Recommendation for Research and Policy
Training Youth to be Leaders in Public Health Youth are the future of our public health workforce. Engaging and training youth to be leaders and advocates for their health, the health of their families and their communities is an important component to the health attainment of youth today and to their health as they grow into adulthood. Abstracts that describe models/frameworks for training and engaging youth in public health, and/or successful practices that demonstrate youth engagement in health education and promotion programs. If you would like your abstract to be considered for an interactive roundtable discussion, please make this indication in the notes section during the submission process.
Worksite Wellness and Health Promotion Worksite policies and programs may help employees reduce health risks and improve their quality of life. Abstracts describing effective employee-health interventions that are delivered at the worksite, other locations, or at other locations through the employee health benefits plan are encouraged.
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PHEHP Submission Procedures
Part 1. PHEHP Individual Abstract Submission Procedures
Abstracts submitted for consideration should reflect new information. Abstracts are limited to 250 words and should not contain charts, figures, etc. Abstracts should adequately describe the content and focus of the proposed presentation and follow the general outline of background, methods, results, and conclusions.
In addition to your abstract, you will be asked to provide the following information as part of the online submission process:
Learning Objectives: At least two measurable learning objectives are needed as a standing APHA requirement and consideration for MCHES, CHES, CPH, CME, and CNE contact hours (see below). The learning objectives are not included in the word count. Please refer to Part 3 below for instructions to develop acceptable learning objectives.
Relevant Keywords: Keywords assist program planners in developing cohesive sessions and in assigning your abstract for blind peer-review. Please select only the keywords that best reflect the primary focus of your abstract submission. If the keyword options in the drop-down menu do not adequately reflect your content, please list your keywords in “Comments to Organizers.”
Preferred Presentation Format: You may select oral, poster, or either. Please note other preferences in the “Comments to Organizers.” Program planners will try to honor, but cannot guarantee, preference requests.
Qualifications Statement: You must include a brief (1 – 3 sentences) statement regarding why you are qualified to present on the content of your abstract. Statements should be tailored to the content, rather than generic statements related to education, training, or employment. An example is found in the “Continuing Education Credit” section below.
Conflict of Interest Disclosure: APHA requires presenters to disclose “any relevant personal financial relationship with a commercial entity that benefits the individual and may ultimately bias the presentation of that content.” The policy may be viewed at http://apha.confex.com/apha/disclosurepolicy.pdf
All abstracts are reviewed using a blind peer-review process. Incomplete abstracts or those failing to meet guidelines established by APHA will not be reviewed. View additional information regarding abstract submission guidelines at https://apha.confex.com/apha/2025/cfp.cgiNOTE: Submission of an abstract implies a commitment to make the presentation at the annual meeting. Presenters of accepted abstracts must be, or become, members of APHA and must be registered by the August early-bird deadline.
Part 2. PHEHP Session Proposal Submission Procedures
A session consists of either four 20-minute presentations or five 15-minute presentations addressing a common theme. Session submissions require:
Individual Abstract Submissions: There is a topic dedicated to abstracts submitted as part of a session proposal titled: PHEHP Session Proposal Abstracts. Each of the four to five presenters must submit their abstract individually into this topic session, following all of the instructions for “Abstract Submissions” provided above. Additionally, each author must put the proposed session title in the “Comments to Organizers.”
Overall Session Proposal: The session organizer should complete the following form: PHEHP Session Proposal 2025
Email the program planners at phehp.planner@gmail.com if you have questions.
Session proposal reviews will occur after individual abstracts are reviewed. Please note that to provide as comprehensive of a program as possible, PHEHP does NOT generally accept full sessions related to a single project. Sessions with broad appeal or those submitted in collaboration with other sections, SPIGs, caucuses or forums are encouraged (please note collaborations in expanded description). IMPORTANT NOTE: Submission of a session implies a commitment on the part of ALL presenters to make their presentations at the annual meeting. All presenters of accepted sessions must be, or become, members of APHA and must be registered by the August early-bird deadline.
Part 3. Measurable Learning Objectives
Learning objectives must clearly identify the intended outcomes participants will be able to demonstrate as a result of attending/participating in your presentation. Verbs that cannot be clearly demonstrated (understand, learn, etc.) do not meet this criterion. Per APHA, learning objectives MUST include one of the following demonstrable verbs: explain, demonstrate, analyze, formulate, discuss, compare, differentiate, describe, name, assess, evaluate, identify, design, define or list. Each learning objective should be listed separately and numbered sequentially. Compound learning objectives (those containing more than one verb) are not permitted. For more information, please see: http://apha.confex.com/apha/learningobjectives.htm
Part 4. 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 outcome (“to understand” or “to learn” are not measurable outcomes and compound outcomes are not acceptable). Use ONLY the following Measurable Action Verbs:
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.) Please note that I am the Principle Investigator of this study is NOT an acceptable qualification statement.
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 Mighty Fine at mighty.fine@apha.org if you have any questions concerning continuing education. For program questions, contact the program planner listed below.
