VA and non-VA investigators are invited to submit abstracts focused on improving the quality and equity of health and health care for racial and/or ethnic minority Veterans, homeless Veterans, and/or LGBT Veterans.

VA HSR&D Field-Based Health Equity Meeting - September 2016

Call for Abstracts

Deadline for Submission Has Passed

We invite abstract submissions for a VA HSR&D Field-Based Meeting to Engage Diverse Stakeholders and Operational Partners in Advancing Health Equity in the VA Healthcare System. This meeting will be held on September 20-21, 2016 at the Sheraton University City Hotel in Philadelphia, PA (Department of Veterans Affairs Employee Education System approval pending).

Co-hosted by the Center for Health Equity Research and Promotion (CHERP) and the Health Equity and Rural Outreach Innovation Center (HEROIC), the meeting will bring together approximately 100 health equity investigators, representatives of vulnerable Veteran populations, and VA operational leaders committed to improving the quality and equity of health and health care for three specific at-risk populations: (1) racial and ethnic minority Veterans; (2) homeless Veterans; and (3) Veterans from the LGBT community.

The objectives of the meeting focused on these at-risk populations are to:

• Identify opportunities and promising strategies to improve the quality and equity of health and health care for these at-risk populations;

• Obtain stakeholder insights and recommendations to ensure that Veteran and operational perspectives inform HSR&D priorities and strategies for developing and testing interventions to reduce disparities in health and health care; and

• Identify priorities, opportunities, and strategies to support broad implementation of effective interventions to improve the quality and equity of Veteran health and health care.

We are pleased to announce that our keynote speakers will include:

Jeroan J. Allison, MD, MS
Co-Editor-in-Chief of Medical Care, the Official Journal of the Medical Care Section of the American Public Health Association and Professor and Vice Chair of the Department of Quantitative Health Sciences and Associate Vice Provost for Health Disparities Research at the University of Massachusetts Medical School

Eliseo J. Pérez-Stable, MD
Director of the National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities at the National Institutes of Health

Instructions for Abstract Submissions

VA and non-VA investigators are invited to submit abstracts focused on improving the quality and equity of health and health care for racial and/or ethnic minority Veterans, homeless Veterans, and/or LGBT Veterans.
Preference will be given to abstracts focused on the following subject areas:

1. Research or quality improvement (QI) projects that inform or test interventions to improve the quality and equity of health and health care for these at-risk populations.

2. Research or QI projects that engaged Veterans as stakeholders to improve the quality and equity of health and health care for these at-risk populations. If selected for presentation, investigators are encouraged to co-present with one of their Veteran stakeholders. For this subject area, projects that effectively engage Veterans, but are still in the planning stages (e.g., do not yet have findings to present) will be considered as long as authors highlight Veteran engagement.

3. Research or QI projects that engaged operational stakeholders to improve the quality and equity of health and health care for these at-risk populations. If selected for presentation, investigators are encouraged to co-present with their operational partner(s).

4. Case studies of real-world implementation projects to improve the quality and equity of health and health care for these at-risk populations.

The deadline for submission of abstracts has passed.

Questions may be emailed to: VHAPHICHERPCorrespondence@va.gov

Authors will be notified of decisions and invitations will be sent by August 1, 2016.

Following the Field-Based Meeting, the meeting sponsors will collaborate with a preeminent health services research journal to publish a “State of the Science” supplement focused on VA health equity research. This supplement will summarize key findings and recommendations and feature invited editorials and key papers from the meeting. Thus, we encourage each presenter to consider developing his/her presentation into a peer-reviewed publication for potential inclusion in this supplement or another peer-review journal. Further information will be provided once the details have been finalized.

Selection Criteria

Each abstract will be evaluated by 3 peer reviewers, who will be blinded to authors' identities. Abstracts with the highest average scores and greatest relevance to the conference topic areas will be selected for oral or poster presentation. Selection criteria include quality, timeliness, and relevance to the subject areas and overall VA mission. Preference will be given to abstracts that present promising interventions and/or implementation projects. Abstracts of work “still in progress” that highlight lessons learned during the planning phase will be considered. All decisions regarding abstract acceptance/rejection will be made by the Review Committee and will be final.

Travel Support

Travel support for this meeting will be provided for all abstract presenters. For select abstracts, travel support will also be provided for Veteran stakeholder or operational partner co-presenters. All travel must be coordinated in compliance with VA travel regulations, as directed by the conference planning committee.

For questions concerning content or processing of abstract submissions, please contact Carson.Clark@va.gov.

 This article and this web site do not represent the views of the U.S. government or the Department of Veterans Affairs.