CALL FOR ABSTRACTS (Vancouver) - Action Towards Reducing Health Inequities

"Action Towards Reducing Health Inequities"
November 23 and 24, 2009
Plaza 500 Hotel, Vancouver, BC

ABSTRACT DEADLINE: May 15, 2009

The Public Health Association of British Columbia is planning a major conference to explore the role of public health practice in reducing health inequities. This two day event will challenge participants to look beyond the now abundant evidence that widespread inequities in health exist in British Columbia (and elsewhere), to new and innovative forms of action aimed at reducing these inequities.

We encourage researchers, practitioners, students, policy-makers, and community members to participate in this conference and to submit abstracts that are congruent with the conference theme and that reflect collective, collaborative efforts to address health inequities.

The Ministry of Health’s Service Plan recognizes the need for action to reduce the gap between the health of our Aboriginal populations and the average British Columbian. This is an important first step. However, recent evidence, such as that contained in the Health Officers Council of BC Discussion Paper, ’Health Inequities in British Columbia
<http://www.bchealthyliving.ca/files/HOC_Inequities_Report.pdf> ’, shows that in BC, as in other jurisdictions, "health tends to be unevenly distributed among social groups within the population on a gradient corresponding to socioeconomic status". This means that the inequities suffered by Aboriginal peoples are only the most visible and extreme aspect of health inequity in BC. More hidden is the deeply entrenched gradient in health as we move along the socio-economic ladder. Nevertheless, this entrenchment is largely due to remediable social determinants of health, and thus constitutes ‘inequity’ rather than simply an ‘inequality’ or ‘disparity’.

Unfortunately, these inequities are only theoretically remediable; to actually have positive change, we need effective public health action strategies to help address the underlying determinants of health inequity. At the conference we will investigate new approaches, collaborations and partnerships aimed at action towards reducing health inequities.

The conference format includes:

• Plenary sessions to stimulate thinking on the conference theme.
• Toolbox sessions to develop new skills.
• Workshops to explore new concepts and new research findings.
• Oral and poster presentations to present findings related to the conference theme and sub-themes.
• Annual General Meeting of the Public Health Association of BC.
• Social events.

Several sub-themes are offered to help align your abstracts

1. Developing and implementing public policy to improve health equity.
2. Opportunities and overcoming the challenges.
3. Enhancing public accountability to improve health equity: The use of media advocacy.
4. Improving health equity for Aboriginal populations: from evidence to action.
5. Creating supportive environments to improve health equity: partnerships and engagement strategies to engage disadvantaged communities.
6. Planning and evaluating interventions to improve health equity: What works?
7. Building Capacity: new research, technologies, models and networks that are available to enhance our capacity to improve health equity.
8. Building Capacity in knowledge exchange to engage civil society.

Evaluation Criteria
Due to limited space and the need for the most relevant and highest quality program, the Conference Program Committee (CPC) has outlined several criteria by which the quality and relevance of abstracts submitted will be judged.

1. Action – Although this criterion is already explicit in the overall theme itself, we are aware of the tendency of the public health community to slip back into a ‘description’ of health inequities, even when intending to address the need for action. Abstracts that not only emphasize, but also outline how they have, or intend to address the concept of ‘action’ on health inequities will be judged as more relevant.
2. Innovation – The challenge of addressing health inequities requires innovation and inventiveness. While the CPC will consider familiar interventions and approaches, it encourages new ideas and new modes of action be presented in order to foster debate and dialogue about the most promising ways forward.
3. Partnerships, Collaboration and Intersectorality – While these three concepts are not synonymous, they share a common thread that emphasizes participation and inclusiveness. We are particularly interested in novel and successful attempts to involve consumers, community members, multiple sectors, multiple levels of government, community-university partnerships and other forms of collaboration aimed at addressing health inequity.
4. Assets and Strengths – The CPC encourages submission of abstracts related to a variety of public health approaches to addressing health inequities; however, it is particularly interested in approaches that explicitly focus on reservoirs of strength and resilience, even in the most disadvantaged communities, as ‘assets’ for health. This is particularly the case for our Aboriginal communities who often feel they have been ‘pathologized’ by public health research and wish us to focus more on how deeply embedded cultural and spiritual capacities are resources for improving health and reducing health inequity.

Guidelines

Limit of 250 words. Submit your abstract on-line at: http://www.blogger.com/www.phabc.org/modules.php?name=Contentabs <http://www.phabc.org/modules.php?name=Contentabs>

Please indicate whether you are applying to present a workshop, oral or poster presentation.

ABSTRACT DEADLINE: May 15, 2009