Health Policy calls for papers / meetings & conferences

Call for Proposals: 2012 Physician Assistant Education Association Annual Education Forum

November 7-11, 2012 Seattle, Washington

PAEA is seeking proposals and presenters for all sessions to be offered during its 2012 Annual Education Forum in Seattle. Presenting at this meeting is a wonderful opportunity for faculty interested in scholarly activity. By facilitating critical discussions and imparting leading edge, high impact, dynamic andragogical and program-relevant content to physician assistant (PA) program personnel, PAEA is hoping to meet the needs of its membership like never before.

Please carefully read all information below as well as review the criteria, guidelines, and format descriptions before submitting your proposal. Helpful resources including frequently asked questions, archived webinars, and upcoming proposal submission conference calls are included.

*NEW* PROPOSAL SUBMISSION PROCESS

PAEA has a new online submission system. Members will find this system intuitive and user friendly. Submitters will be required to create a username and password. This system will allow users to access and edit their proposals until the final deadline.

Per the submission guidelines, only one presentation format may be chosen for each topic submitted. Multiple format submissions for the same or similar topics will not be accepted.

The deadline to submit proposals is Monday, June 4, 2012, 3:00 p.m., EDT.

TOPICS

Proposals on all topics related to PA education and preparation for practice will be considered. Suggested topics include but are not limited to:

Teaching and learning strategies
Curriculum design and evaluation
Research on PA education and the profession
Management and leadership
Student issues
Educational technology
Academic law or legal issues
Health care issues and other topics of general interest and practical use to the PA profession
Professional competencies
The role of the PA
The delivery of health care in connection with PAs
Interprofessional Education
Diversity in the PA Profession

Call for Papers: Beyond ‘Them’ and ‘Us’? Enacting Social Science Within the Public Health Research Agenda on Chronic Illness

Tuesday 18 September 2012. Hughes Hall, University of Cambridge, United Kingdom

Keynote Speakers: Professor David Armstrong, King’s College London; Professor Rose Barbour, Open University

For social scientists employed in public health settings, the activities, institutions and practices marked by the term ‘public health research’ may be approached conceptually in at least three different ways:

(a) as a ‘field of work’ within which they are located, for example as doctoral students, postdoctoral researchers and in more permanent posts (‘us’)

(b) as a ‘topic of enquiry’ (an aspect of society) they are called upon to investigate (‘them’)

(c) as a recursive activity, in which they, along with every other individual, form part of the research object as well as its agent, that is by being members of a population or ‘public’ (‘we’).

Beyond Them and Us aims to unpack and critically explore this triple dimension. As early career sociologists employed in a public health setting, we observe that colleagues from biomedically-oriented disciplines sometimes express the expectation that ‘our’ contribution ‘add meaning’ to ‘their’ findings, for instance data derived from controlled trials or policy initiatives based on models of ‘complex intervention’. Yet social science approaches prompt a critical evaluation of how such methods and epistemic practices themselves operate. Similarly, within the field of chronic illness, there is often a hiatus between ‘our’ and ‘their’ understandings of the nominally designated goal of research. For instance, the shared starting point of the ‘obesity epidemic’ is interpreted in different ways.

Such differences frequently seem to lead to misunderstanding and even conflict at institutional and/or personal levels. They are inseparable from wider social and political trends, and deeply entangled with issues of the power and status of different sciences. More easily overlooked is the extent to which we are all inescapably participant subjects as well as protagonists of public health research enterprises. This further problematises any easy distinction between lay, biomedical and social-scientific orientations.

Within academic commentary, these issues are frequently framed in terms of the respective theoretical merits of ‘qualitative’ and ‘quantitative’ approaches, or proposed reconciliations between the two. In contrast, ongoing entanglements and discriminations of ‘us’, ‘them’ and ‘we’ suggest a far messier, dynamic and literally informal picture. Key questions concern whose is the social science contribution within public health research, who or what is that contribution for, and how best to enact and communicate that contribution in the real world? Discussion of these questions tends to be reserved to ‘off-page’ and ‘off-stage’ settings (e.g. frustrations shared over coffee). A more explicit articulation involves rethinking how we might theoretically and practically work with multiple and fluctuating demands, aspirations and ways of seeing.

Beyond Them and Us aims to recover the notion of ‘enacting social science within public health’ as in itself a legitimate field of social enquiry and to begin to explore a range of creative and constructive restatements, responses and/or possible resolutions. The symposium is targeted especially at early career (doctoral and postdoctoral) social scientists working within public health who face issues and dilemmas similar to those described, although proposed contributions may come from those working in any setting and from any disciplinary background. Contributions focusing on specific empirical contexts (whether ‘successes’ or ‘failures’) and/ or taking a wider critical or reflective stance are equally welcome.

Submission Process: Abstracts of not more than 300 words should be e-mailed to socsciinph@medschl.cam.ac.uk by Friday 15 June 2012. When sending the abstract please state full title of proposed paper, author(s’) name(s), affiliation, and e-mail contact details. You will be informed by early July whether your paper has been selected for the symposium.

As a second stage of the process, authors of selected papers will be requested to provide a written version (at least in summary form) of their contribution by Monday 3 September 2012 at the latest so that this can be circulated to other participants prior to the symposium. The purpose of this is to encourage a fuller cross-fertilisation of ideas and to stimulate richer and more productive discussion on the day.

Other: Subject to the outcome of funding applications, it is possible a charge may need to be imposed for participation in the symposium (including for speakers selected via this CFP) in order to cover costs. However this will be no more than £40 (with a reduced rate of £20 for all students including PhDs).

The event is organised by Emily Taylor and Paul Stronge, Research Associates, based at the Department of Public Health and Primary Care, University of Cambridge.

All enquiries to socsciinph@medschl.cam.ac.uk please.

2013 Call for Presentation Proposals: DiversityRx 2013 Conference--the Eighth National Conference on Quality Health Care for Culturally Diverse Populations

Achieving Equity in an Era of Innovation and Health System Transformation

March 11-14, 2013, Oakland, California

New partnerships between health care organizations and communities, research into improved ways to deliver care, and changes in health care policy are opening up opportunities to achieve equity and the highest quality health care for culturally diverse populations. In this time of transition, practitioners, policymakers, researchers, and advocates for health equity can focus attention on implementation, participation and improving health outcomes for individuals and communities. The 2013 conference will offer participants the opportunity to hear from experts and front-line leaders about how diverse populations are affected by:

state and national reform efforts
changes to the Medicaid program
innovative technology for information management and outreach
social determinants of health
other practice and financing developments.

As always, the conference will continue to feature both established and innovative cultural and linguistic competence and disparity reduction programs and policies from across the country and abroad.

Presentation proposals are due by Friday, June 1, 2012.

We invite you to submit presentation proposals for this nationally acclaimed conference, which attracts over 600 participants every two years. Health care professionals, community representatives, advocates, policymakers, researchers and others from the U.S. and around the world can submit brief proposals on good practices and innovative approaches related to the following thematic categories:

language access
culturally competent care/disparity reduction
cultural competence/disparity reduction education and training
organizational cultural competence
policy
research

Prior to submitting a presentation proposal, we encourage you to view the 2010 program.

With over 200 presentations featured at the conference, a host of topics will be addressed. A detailed list of potential presentation topics can be found here.

Proposals are being accepted for a variety of presentation formats:

Main Conference Sessions
Main Conference Oral Presentations (concurrent workshops and peer-to-peer sessions)
Poster presentations
Film Festival presentations
Preconference Sessions (Preconference will take place on Monday, March 11, 2013)
Preconference Intensive training sessions
Special Sessions (may be held as a concurrent session during the main conference or may be held as breakfast sessions or evening sessions. Please indicate scheduling preference in the Comments to Organizers section of your submission.)

Presentation proposals are due by Friday June 1, 2012.

Call for Abstracts: Disability and the Majority World: The 2nd International Conference

Date: 26th- 27th September, 2012

Venue: Manchester Metropolitan University, United Kingdom

We are pleased to confirm that the 2nd international conference 'Disability and the Majority World' will be held at Manchester Metropolitan University. The conference seeks to bring together researchers, disability activists, practitioners, organisations, and others from various fields, to discuss a range of key and emerging themes around disability in the global South. It provides a much needed inter-disciplinary, critical, supportive and open space to debate, question and challenge, while exploring alternatives in a safe and friendly environment.

Call for abstracts: OPEN- deadline (22nd September)

We are now accepting abstracts for paper presentations, and welcome contributions around (not exclusively) the following broad areas, from all disciplinary perspectives. We particularly encourage contributions from activists, researchers and practitioners from the global South:

Poverty and disability
War and conflict
Health and rehabilitation
Migration
Development
Globalisation, neoliberalism and beyond
Post/neocolonial spaces
Researching disability across cultures

Those wishing to present a paper please send an abstract (maximum 300 words) in an attached Word Document to S.Grech@mmu.ac.uk . Please ensure the abstract contains name, title of presentation, institution (if applicable) and contact email and please insert 'abstract for conference' in the subject line of your email.Paper presentations are 15 minutes.

Registration

The conference is FREE of charge, but all delegates need to register. This will help us gauge attendance and make adequate preparations.

Cancellations: we would appreciate if those registered but no longer able to attend to please inform us by email Shaun Grech: S.Grech@mmu.ac.uk

Conference Programme

In the spirit of an eco-friendly conference, please note that we will be providing an e-pack instead of printed material on the day.

Meals

The conference is free, which means that lunch and refreshments will have to be purchased from the University or elsewhere. Please let us know if you have any dietary requirements so we can make the refactory aware of delegate requirements.

Bursaries

We are afraid that despite the need, we are unable to provide bursaries (for travel, lodging or other expenses) to attend the conference.

Call for Papers for a Session on Health, Disease, and Physical Culture at the Northeast Popular Culture Association Annual Conference

The Northeast Popular/American Culture Association (NEPCA) is soliciting papers for topics in the area of Health, Disease and Culture for its annual meeting, which will be held October 26-26 on the campus of St. John Fisher College in Rochester, New York.

Topics in Health, Disease and Culture may include such themes as below: Mass media images of health and disease in popular culture--print, film, television, etc.

Portrayals of health institutions (e.g., hospitals, clinics, medical homes, pharmacies) and health professionals in history, literature or mass media

Portrayals of Prescription Drugs (E.G., Development, Marketing, Advertising, Consumption, Role in Treatment of Chronic Illnesses

Representations of the body in discourses of health and illness

Narratives of illness from patient and health practitioner perspectives in novels, short stories, memoirs, graphic comics, etc., discussed in larger sociocultural (ethnicity, race, gender, class), and political (health care system) contexts

Disability discourses in history, literature, and public policy

Outbreak narratives of infectious diseases (e.g., endemic, epidemic, pandemic) in popular media and literature; infectious diseases in history and public policy

Historical and contemporary perspectives on the promotion of health through diet, exercise, personal or domestic hygiene, cosmetic procedures, public health campaigns (e.g., smoking, obesity).

Focuses on Public Health: The Built Environment, Global Health, Emergency Preparedness, Occupational Health, Surveillance and Public Health

Creative Writing and Health Care Presentations from patient, caregiver, health professional or medical humanities practitioners, etc.

We invite both individual papers and proposals for complete panels (please include titles and abstracts for each panelist). Please send a 1-2 page paper proposal and a one-page vita to both the Program Chair Tim Madigan tmadigan@sjfc.edu and to the Area Chair for Health, Disease and Culture, Jennifer Tebbe-Grossman jennifer.tebbe-grossman@mcphs.edu. The deadline for submission is June 1, 2012.

Jennifer Tebbe-Grossman
Professor of Political Science and American Studies
School of Arts and Sciences
Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences-Boston
179 Longwood Avenue
Boston, Massachusetts 02115
Phone: 617-732-2904
Email: jennifer.tebbe-grossman@mcphs.edu

Call for Abstracts: Society for Acupuncture Research 2013 Conference

Impact of Acupuncture Research on 21st Century Health Care

April 19-21, 2013 University of Michigan Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA

Co-sponsored by: University of Michigan Department of Anesthesiology and Program in Integrative Medicine

Abstract submission deadline: September 10, 2012

The rising incidence of chronic disease and stress-related illness in the West has led to an increased utilization of acupuncture
as a contemporary health care option. A major reason for this increase in usage is that acupuncture has heeded the call for evidence-based medicine, with a broad range of clinical trials, surveys of safety, and basic science studies of physiological action all contributing to its growing acceptance. The 2013 SAR conference will explore diverse areas of acupuncture research, emphasizing their potential to affect health policy decisions and enhance clinical practice.

-- Leading researchers from the U.S. and abroad will present keynote addresses, participate in symposia and panels, and lead workshops assessing recent progress, challenges and opportunities for the field.

-- Representative speakers from the national and international acupuncture research communities will present original data in three major areas: clinical research, basic science and research methodology.

-- All attendees will be invited to submit Abstracts from which the Program Committee will select oral and poster presentations.

-- A pre-conference workshop will focus on “Current status and issues in acupuncture research for practitioners, students, and educators new to this field.”

Abstract submission
Abstracts are solicited for presentations in the areas of clinical research, basic science and research methodology pertaining to
acupuncture, as well as other modalities of East Asian medicine including traditional herbs, Tai Chi, and Qi Gong.
Please upload your abstracts by September 10, 2012 to:
www.softconf.com/c/sar2013/

Abstracts submitted after September 10, 2012 will not be considered. Abstracts will be reviewed by the Program
Committee and prospective speakers will be informed by November 15, 2012 as to whether their research has been accepted
for oral or poster presentation.

See www.acupunctureresearch.org for more details about the conference program as available.

Call for Abstracts: World Health Summit

The M8 Alliance of Academic Health Centres and Medical Universities is pleased to invite submission of abstracts for presentation at its upcoming 4th World Health Summit. The World Health Summit is one of the world’s foremost gatherings of leaders from academia, politics, industry and civil society to develop joint strategies and take action to address key challenges in medical research, global health and health care delivery with the aim of shaping the political, academic and social agendas. This year´s World Health Summit “Research for Health and Sustainable Development” will be held in Berlin from October 21st to 24th, 2012.

The M8 Alliance of Academic Health Centres and Medical Universities was officially founded in 2009, as a medical and scientific forum of excellence on the occasion of the 1st World Health Summit in Berlin. It is composed of a network of prestigious medical institutions dealing with scientific, political, and economic issues related to medicine and global health. The M8 Alliance acts as a permanent platform for framing future considerations of global medical development and health challenges. It is the M8’s vision to harness academic excellence to improve global health.

The New Voices in Global Health (NVGH) is a competitive abstract submission and selection programme designed to highlight important research, policy and advocacy initiatives of new and future leaders in global health, and empower participants with global health advocacy skills.

Selected participants will have the opportunity to make a presentation at the World Health Summit 2012. The accepted researchers will participate in either the NVGH forum session or the NVGH poster presentation session. Selected abstracts will be published in a special booklet available at the World Health Summit and on The Lancet´s website.

Issues addressed must be relevant, reflect current challenges, show originality and will spark the interest of conference participants and the readers of The Lancet. Topics of particular interest would be those linked to the summit’s main themes:

“Research for Health and Sustainable Development”

Educating Health Professionals
• Brain Drain in Medical Professions
• Educating Health Professionals for the 21st Century

Translating Research into Policy
• Integrating Research into Health Policies and Health Systems
• Minimizing Waste of Research
• Translating Genomic Research into Global Health Gains

Financing Health
• Economic Crisis and Health Impact
• Sustainable Health Systems Financing and Universal Coverage

Diseases of Modern Environments
• The Epidemic of Chronic Diseases
• The Future of Maternal and Reproductive Health
• Urban Development and Mental Health

Research using qualitative, quantitative, or mixed methods may be submitted. Abstracts should be submitted online no later than June 15, 2012. An expert committee composed of M8 Alliance members and Lancet editors will review the abstracts after peer review. Participants will be informed of the acceptance of their abstracts for presentation at the World Health Summit at the end of July 2012. (Authors of selected abstracts should submit a 10-minute-presentation / or poster by email no later than September 30, 2012. Deadlines will be strictly adhered to.)

• The New Voices in Global Health Forum is open to all. Abstracts should address current issues with a special focus on the main themes of this year’s World Health Summit.
• Abstracts must be free of commercial bias or promotion.
• Only one abstract per person is permitted.
• All abstracts must be submitted online.

Call for Papers: 2nd HEC Paris Workshop on Regulation--Regulating Lifestyle Risks in Europe: The Case of Alcohol, Tobacco and Unhealthy Diets

September 27-28 Paris, France

In September 2011, the UN General Assembly declared that the global burden and threat of non-communicable diseases (NCDs) constituted one of the major challenges for development in the twenty-first century: in 2008, 36 of the 57 million deaths globally (63%) were attributed to NCDs, including cardiovascular diseases, cancers, chronic respiratory diseases and diabetes. By recognizing NCDs as largely preventable, it urged the international community to take action at global, regional and national levels to prevent and control their surge. To this end it recommended the adoption of a 'regulatory mix' of multi-sectoral, cost-effective, population-wide interventions in order to reduce the impact of the common NCD risk factors, namely tobacco use, harmful use of alcohol, unhealthy diets and lack of physical activity. Yet how to respond to the growing incidence of NCDs is a major source of complexities in risk analysis and regulatory decision-making: the conditions in which people live, poverty, uneven distribution of wealth, lack of education, rapid urbanization and population ageing, as well as the economic, social, gender, political, behavioral and environmental determinants of health are all contributory factors to the prevalence of NCDs. At the same time, the legitimacy, the effectiveness as well as the design of any regulatory intervention aimed at promoting healthier lifestyle remain highly contested.

The European Union has recently recognized the growing impact of NCDs on the EU's economy and the well-being of its citizens and has consequently started to develop policies intended to tackle the four main factors to which they are linked. Nevertheless, if common themes emerge between the different EU policies intended to promote healthier lifestyles, no attempt has yet been made to systematize them.

We therefore propose to hold a two-day workshop with selected speakers and discussants to identify horizontal, common themes and determine whether the lessons learned in relation to each area of EU intervention may be transposed to the others. More generally, this workshop will offer an opportunity for researchers (PhD students, post-docs, researchers and established academics), policy makers and other stakeholders to reflect on the role which the European Union should play in promoting healthier lifestyles, in light of the moral, philosophical, legal and political challenges associated with the regulation of individual choices. Special attention will be paid to the role that the relevant industries may realistically be called to play in tackling the rising tide of NCDs.

The questions the workshop will focus on include (but are not limited to):

- the role of the EU in promoting healthier lifestyle and how powers should be shared between the EU and its Member States in public health matters;

- the role of consumer information, taxation, reformulation and marketing restrictions with regard to tobacco, alcohol and unhealthy food in promoting healthier lifestyles and their impact on the EU internal market;

- the international role the EU can/should play and its relationship with the World Health Organization and other international organizations, as a result of the conclusion of the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC), the 2004 WHO Global Strategy on Diet, Physical Activity and Health and the 2007 WHO Global Strategy to Reduce Harmful Use of Alcohol;

- identification of the drivers behind the emergence of an EU lifestyle policy: is there an economic case for regulating lifestyle health risk determinants?

- the role of the EU impact assessment system in the preparation of legislative proposals and rule-making;

- the role played by the principles of transparency, consultation, and proportionality in ensuring that the legitimate interests of key stakeholders are sufficiently taken into account;

- the role of various stakeholders in supporting healthier lifestyles, including the role of the EU Platform for Action on Diet, Physical Activity and Health and the EU Alcohol and Health Forum;

- the assessment of different policy initiatives to determine the most appropriate forms of intervention (statutory regulation, self-regulation, co-regulation, nudges) in relevant policy areas;

- the challenge of integrating the findings of behavioral research into lifestyle policy-making, in particular the potential role and legitimacy of nudge-inspired measures in changing individual behavior and establishing social norms;

- the extent to which tobacco control may represent a blueprint for the regulation of lifestyle risks in the EU; - what the specific characteristics of EU regulation are that make problems easier or harder to solve than at national level;

- the extent to which the particular vulnerability of children requires a targeted regulatory intervention;

- the role the right to health and other fundamental rights should play in the debate;

- the impact of lifestyle regulation policies on the IP system, such as trademarks, and technological innovation, such as e-cigarettes, food reformulation and food supplements;

- the extent to which it is beneficial and justified to talk about an emerging EU lifestyle policy;

- the constraints imposed by the WTO Agreements to the emergence of a EU lifestyle regulation policy.

Organisers

- Alberto Alemanno, Associate Professor of Law at HEC Paris and Editor of the European Journal of Risk Regulation
- Amandine Garde, Senior Lecturer in Law and Director of the Durham European Law Institute, Durham University

Event

The event will consist of a two-day workshop to be held at HEC Paris Campus on 27 and 28 September 2012. The workshop is supported by the Jean Monnet Chair in EU Law & Risk Regulation as well as by the HEC Paris Foundation.

Outcomes

It is anticipated that the papers presented at the workshop will form the basis of an edited collection.

Submissions

Please submit an abstract of between 300 and 500 words, including a title, to :

- Alberto Alemanno, alemanno@hec.fr and

- Amandine Garde, amandine.garde@durham.ac.uk by Tuesday 22nd May 2012.

Call for Abstracts: Dynamics of Preparedness Conference

October 22-24, 2012 Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

The University of Pittsburgh MIDAS National Center of Excellence, in cooperation with the Journal of Public Health Management & Practice and the Center for Communicable Disease Dynamics at the Harvard School of Public Health, invite researchers, graduate students, and post-doctoral fellows to the Dynamics of Preparedness Conference in Pittsburgh, October 22–24, 2012.

Purpose: The past decade has seen unprecedented investments in research on preparedness from many sectors of government and the private sector. Numerous reports have appeared, evaluating the preparedness status of states and communities. Dynamics of Preparedness will convene researchers from diverse disciplines to present, critique, and consider the future of research on emergency preparedness in public health systems.

Dynamics describes the complex interactivity among numerous governmental, private, and voluntary components of public health systems. Systems must adapt to emergencies and disasters —both as individuals, agencies, and organizations and as system components affecting the populations served—in ways that often produce unexpected, secondary impacts. Preparedness includes prevention, mitigation, response, and recovery relevant to infectious disease outbreaks as well as other emergencies and disasters.

Goals:

Compile research on public health systems that support preparedness, specifically highlighting innovative methods and novel approaches.
Critique the rigor and quality of output from this research arena, noting the findings and insights with implications for public policy and practical application.
Catalogue the issues and problems where the evidence base for preparedness policy and practice remains weak as an agenda for future research and seek solution-focused innovations.

Dynamics of Preparedness will feature sessions in:

Data: resources for, as well as barriers and constraints upon, quantitative and qualitative research

Innovations: methodological challenges and novel multi-disciplinary approaches

Outcomes: demonstrations, observational studies, and comparisons focused on the outcomes of response to public health emergencies

Modeling: use of computational, conceptual, and mathematical modeling to explore legal frameworks, resource deployment, and operational efficiency and effectiveness under resource-constrained conditions

Progress of Research: presentation of studies on the critical themes of system sustainability, communications, workforce capabilities, and criteria and metrics and on the cross-cutting issues of legal infrastructure and special-needs populations

Translation: utility and application of research results for policy making and practice

Call for Abstracts: Research perspectives at this conference will include: law and policy—including statutory authorities, organizational structures, and governance characteristics; economic resources—including finances, workforce, physical assets, equipment, and facilities; and operational effectiveness—as measured by performance processes and outcomes, quality improvement and quality assurance, and operational plans and protocols. The Conference will welcome innovative computational researchers who have entered the field of public health systems using methods from systems engineering, mathematical simulation, computational modeling, natural-language processing, Bayesian statistics, and other fields.

Deadline for submission: Friday, June 1, 2012

Selection and Notification: Selected abstract authors will be notified beginning June 30, 2012.

Call for Papers: 2nd International Conference on Global Telehealth - GT2012

“Delivering Quality Healthcare Anywhere Through Telehealth”

25 - 28, 2012 November Sydney, Australia

Telehealth, including telemedicine, patient monitoring and associated eHealth considerations, is currently experiencing a rapid expansion in adoption worldwide. Deployment of new information and communications technologies, and their enabling systems and infrastructure, offer many emerging avenues for implementation of Telehealth solutions. Widespread initiatives by public and private sector health providers with government reimbursement and regulatory support are transforming previously small scale activities into widespread adoption. This situation provides a great opportunity to raise levels of access and increase quality of healthcare globally.

The Telehealth domain of interest covers a broad scope: from enabling direct clinical interventions and interactions by real-time or store-forward processes, to communicating and managing health information in electronic formats, to patient centred care needs such as personal monitoring and care team support, and to education, policy and professional aspects. Mainstream activities in healthcare systems internationally address these areas, and so this conference provides a platform for sharing of best practice and directions.

Telehealth is also acting as a major change driver in global health, particularly in underserved regions and emerging countries. This is aided by the rapid uptake of leapfrog technologies such as mobile wireless communications and portable computing devices, and the deployment of new models and processes of healthcare. The conference will give special emphasis to this sector and particularly invites participation by representatives from Asia-Pacific, Africa and Latin America.

Contributions are sought addressing current research and practice in Telehealth, including (but not limited to):

• clinical applications of telemedicine
• teleconsultation and telecollaboration
• teleprocedures and robotic surgical methods
• telecare and remote patient monitoring
• tele-education and clinical training
• evaluation and benefits of telehealth
• web services for telehealth
• mobile telehealth and wireless applications
• telehealth software and systems
• telehealth technologies and methodologies
• telehealth for remote areas
• telehealth in emerging countries
• telehealth policy and governance
• international trends and perspectives for telehealth

Original unpublished contributions in all fields of Telehealth (and closely related areas of eHealth) are invited. These may be offered as Full Papers (maximum 8 pages or approx 4000 words, not previously published) subject to expert peer review by an international program committee of technical experts, or as extended abstract Short Papers (maximum 2 pages or approx 1000 words) also subject to peerl review. Full Papers will appear in a commercially published and indexed monograph or may be considered for invited journal publication. Short Papers will appear in proceedings to be distributed to delegates at the event.

Submissions must contain a clear statement of aims, methods, results and conclusions for the work reported. Papers will be judged on originality, significance, technical quality, relevance to the conference, and presentation. Submission of a Full Paper or Short Paper will imply an undertaking that, should it be accepted, at least one author will register and attend the conference to present the work. Submissions should be made by following the instructions on the conference website, using the style guide provided.

Submission of Full and Short Papers: Friday 28 July 2012
Notification of acceptance to authors: Friday 25 August 2012
Camera-ready copy for proceedings: Friday 8 September 2012
Author & Early-bird registration deadline: Friday 8 September 2012

The conference will offer a limited number of half-day Workshops, for presentation of “work-in-progress” on thematically related sets of current Telehealth projects, and half-day Tutorials, for experts to provide concentrated overviews on topics of contemporary interest. These associated events will be available to delegates at very modest fees. Persons interested in offering to organise either a Workshop or a Tutorial should e-mail a 1 page summary of their proposal (including details of coverage, and names and affiliations of any intended presenters) to the organisers by the above Submission date. Other satellite events may be organised on the first day.

General Co-Chairs: Prof Anthony Maeder, University of Western Sydney & Prof Mohamed Khadra, University of Sydney
Program Co-Chairs: A/Prof Anthony Smith, University of Queensland & Dr Robert Eikelboom, University of Western Australia
Organising Co-Chairs: Dr Laurie Wilson, CSIRO ICT Centre & Dr David Allen, Quality Occupational Health

More Information: http://www.aths.org.au/GT2012/