ACU 2024 Conference: Envisioning a More Equitable Future: Advancing Stakeholder-Centered Innovation
August 4-7, 2024
Call for Abstracts
ACU is now accepting workshop and poster abstracts for its 2024 Annual Conference, Envisioning a More Equitable Future: Advancing Stakeholder-Centered Innovation. The conference will be held in person at The Westin Washington, D.C. Downtown in Washington, D.C., from August 4-7, 2024.
The ACU Annual Conference brings together hundreds of healthcare clinicians, administrators, and public health and industry leaders from across the country, all with an interest in expanding access to care and improving healthcare delivery for medically underserved populations. The meeting is a special opportunity for clinicians, administrators, researchers, students, and advocates to network, learn, and share strategies to support our collective work.
This year’s conference theme spotlights the importance of including stakeholder voices and input–whether patients, staff, communities, or partners–when shaping innovations in workforce development, clinical practice, or community engagement and advocacy to help bring holistic, equitable, and inclusive care within reach for underserved populations. “Envisioning a More Equitable Future” also spotlights this year’s new track dedicated to eye health and vision care, which recognizes the need for and strategies to improve access to eye care and vision services among historically marginalized communities as an essential part of overall health.
This year’s conference includes educational sessions, poster presentations, networking opportunities, and more. Continuing Education credits will be available for educational sessions. The full conference agenda, including workshop sessions, will be posted in 2024.
- Educational sessions are scheduled for six 60-minute blocks on August 5th and 6th.
- Poster presentations will be held on Monday, August 5th, during a 75-minute block.
- There is no limit to the number or type of abstracts submitted.
Presenter Registration and Travel
All presenters must register for the Annual Conference and attend in person. There are no virtual options for presenters. All workshop and poster presenters are eligible for discounted conference registration. Please keep in mind ACU is not able to cover any travel or hotel expenses. Registration fees for presenters are $450 for professionals and free for students.
Presenter Timeline and Deadlines
- February 9, 2024 – Deadline to submit abstracts
- March 8, 2024 – Selection notifications sent out
Educational Sessions
Educational sessions are scheduled for six 60-minute blocks on August 5th and 6th. LCD projectors, computers, and microphones are included in each educational session room. Videos should be captioned to ensure access to people with disabilities.
Continuing Education: Speaker/Presenter Form
All speakers/presenters will be required to disclose any relevant financial disclosures, upload a CV/resume, and provide a bio and headshot via this form. Abstracts will not be considered complete unless all speakers/presenters listed in the application have completed the form.
Poster Presentations
Faculty and staff from the Journal of Health Care for the Poor and Underserved and ACU will review and judge conference posters for their presentation, content, and innovation or addition to the field. One poster will be selected and the presenter given an opportunity to meet with faculty and staff from the Journal of Health Care for the Poor and Underserved to discuss recommendations for developing the poster into a manuscript to submit for review.
Research Posters should be displayed on a board measuring 4ft x 6ft. Presenters must be available to discuss their posters during a dedicated poster session on August 5th. Poster presenters will also be required to pre-record a 5-minute video via Zoom to be shared via the conference website.
Tracks/Topic Areas (click here for list)
A list of all possible tracks is available below. Presenters can select up to 3 tracks.
- Becoming an Employer of Choice: Examining best practices and lessons learned to hiring and retaining the healthcare workforce.
- Clinical Practice: Examining the emerging science and delivery of clinical medicine.
- Climate Change and Health: Addressing climate change through the lens of human health.
- Community Engagement & Partnerships: Building supportive relationships within the community to better address patient needs.
- Innovative Uses of Technology: Leveraging technology in new ways to improve care delivery.
- Justice, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion: Advancing justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion in the workplace and community.
- Leadership: Engaging leaders at all levels in driving results within health and health care.
- Mental & Behavioral Health: Addressing mental and behavioral health issues within the health center and community.
- Quality Improvement: Applying concepts and tools of improvement science to drive meaningful and far-reaching change.
- Policy and Advocacy: Achieving change through legislation and grassroots advocacy.
- Population Health: Improving the health outcomes of a group of individuals, including the distribution of such outcomes within the group.
- Research & Clinical Trials: Increasing health center and staff capacity to engage in the design, implementation, and analysis of research and/or clinical trials.
- Supporting a Thriving Workforce:* Accelerating the application of evidence into practice to reduce burnout, improve wellness, and increase patient safety.
- Value, Cost, and Quality: Employing strategies to thrive in a value-based care environment.
- Vision Services: Starting up, expanding, and integrating vision services into primary care.
*Note: All educational sessions that wish to be considered for the Supporting a Thriving Workforce Track must disseminate research findings and/or evidence-based tools and resources that healthcare organizations can use to address workload and job demands, control and flexibility, social support and community at work, work-life integration, meaning in work, efficiency and resources, or organizational and cultural values. Additionally, the presentation must include and be aligned with the conceptual framework used in HRSA’s Workforce Wellness Initiative. See page 7 of this document.
Continuing Education: Speaker/Presenter Form
All speakers/presenters will be required to disclose any relevant financial disclosures, upload a CV/resume, and provide a bio and headshot via this form. Abstracts will not be considered complete unless all speakers/presenters listed in the application have completed the form.
Selection Criteria
Submissions will be reviewed by a panel of experts and scored using the criteria below. Abstracts should attempt to meet at least 4 of the 7 criteria below:
- Addresses a current issue, important problem, or a barrier to accessing care
- Makes a lasting change or recommends a sustainable practice
- Is well-supported by evidence or presents the results of well-designed, innovative research
- Recommends an effective, innovative option for addressing an issue
- Can be implemented by other organizations/providers
- Aligns with the conference theme by including the voices of those impacted by the work
- Promotes justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion
Research Posters should be displayed on a board measuring 4ft x 6ft. Presenters must be available to discuss their posters during a dedicated poster session on August 5th. Poster presenters will also be required to pre-record a 5-minute video via Zoom to be shared via the conference website.
JEDI Considerations for All Workshops and Posters
ACU strives to ensure that its content is inclusive and free from bias. When submitting your abstract, please consider the perspective(s) of your material and whether it was developed from a JEDI lens. Dr. Caruso Brown’s Checklist for Assessing Bias in Health Professions Education Content is a helpful tool for identifying unintended bias.
Additionally, workshop and poster presenters are encouraged to find ways to incorporate diverse perspectives and promote JEDI within the subject area. Some ways to do this include:
- Using data and storytelling from diverse perspectives
- Delivering content with cultural humility and cultural responsiveness
- Identifying ways to promote equity, inclusion, and belonging among personnel
- Addressing discrimination and bias in clinical practice
- Increasing awareness of historic and ongoing individual, institutional, structural, and systemic discrimination that contributes to the challenges/problems being addressed
Steps for Submitting Your Proposal
- Review the application and draft your responses: ACU recommends that you download a copy of the application to review all required information and to begin drafting your responses. This will ensure no information is lost should you run into technical difficulties when submitting your application.
- Submit your abstract: Using the following Google Form, submit your responses by the application deadline.
- Complete your individual speaker/presenter form: All speakers or presenters listed in the application must complete the following speaker/presenter form by the application deadline.
Both the abstract and all speaker/presenter forms must be submitted by the February 9th deadline. Please contact Luke Ertle with any inquiries about the submission process or the conference itself. We look forward to seeing you in Washington this Summer!
Don’t forget to complete your individual speaker/presenter form: All speakers or presenters listed in the application must complete the following speaker/presenter form by the application deadline.
