​

The Preventive Health Conference is an important conference on the public health calendar. Convened by the Public Health Association of Australia (PHAA), the Preventive Health Conference is an annual conference aimed at providing a platform to engage, challenge and exchange ideas, where pivotal issues for building prevention in Australia is discussed and where delegates can learn from the experience, opinions and perspectives of sector leaders and their peers.

​

PHAA is committed to ensuring opportunities for professional development and connection within the community. We deliver conferences in an interactive online format as well as continuing the face-to-face format. 

​

The 2024 Preventive Health Conference theme is: ‘Building prevention success stories’

​

This conference will explore the many ways to build preventive health success.  These are rarely overnight success stories.  We will explore when to be quick and when to be slow; when to be quiet and when to be loud; when to disrupt and when to build.

​

How do we build partnerships for advocacy, and to enable many community voices to be heard?  How do we keep building our evidence and advocacy with limited resources and attention, overcoming frustration when our preventive health activity is urgent? How do we make the most of the attention when it finally arrives?  How do we build workforce and capacity when the resources arrive?  How do we keep up prevention momentum after our 15 minutes of national attention, after the national strategy has been released and the funding announced, and attention has moved to other things?

​

The conference will explore success stories of preventive health, topical preventive health issues and emerging opportunities for prevention.

​

We invite everyone working in prevention to the Preventive Health Conference 2024: academics, policy workers, and on-the-ground workers in preventive health.

​

​

Abstract Submissions

​

We welcome submission of abstracts for presentations relevant to the conference theme and sub-themes.

​

Submitted abstracts must clearly show how the presentation will present key learnings and outcomes in association with the conference themes.

​

We encourage submitters to think about the story they are telling, and how they will ensure the presentation is dynamic and engaging.

Reforming policy is core strategy to support preventive health.  We encourage abstracts exploring stories of policy reform to improve preventive health outcomes and the settings that lead to them.

 

We encourage presentations on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples’ health to be presented or co-presented with an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander person. We encourage abstracts submitted to note if authors identify as Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander.

​

Presenters of research focusing on particular Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities should provide an additional paragraph with their abstract outlining whether the relevant community/ies have provided permission to publicise the research findings. An additional 50-word paragraph is permitted in addition to the 300-word maximum.

​

All abstracts should be submitted electronically using the online form on this conference webpage (coming soon). A manual abstract submission form will also be provided on this conference webpage (coming soon).

​

It is the submitting author’s responsibility to ensure the correct version of the abstract is uploaded. Abstracts submitted should be checked for spelling and grammar as they will be published exactly as received.

​

All presenters must register at the time of confirming their acceptance presentation offer and pay the Conference registration fee.

​

Abstracts are invited for the following topics and corresponding subthemes in areas of public health:
 

Domains
 

1. Research: Intro, Methods, Results, Conclusion.

2. Policy/Practice: Problem, What you did, Results, Lessons.

​

Conference Sub-themes

​

The Preventive Health Conference will be guided by the below sub-themes (select all that are relevant):

​

Learning from our success stories

There are many different prevention success stories that need to be told, with many pathways to success and many lessons learnt from challenges overcome and mistakes made.  We encourage abstracts that tell your stories and discuss their lessons for other prevention activities.

 

Prevention for equity

Addressing the underlying social determinants of health and preventing risk factors can improve the equity of health outcomes.  We encourage abstracts exploring prevention activities which include diverse community voices, especially those with relevant lived experience, and how these partnerships were developed and nurtured. 

 

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander prevention success stories

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people have led and co-designed many innovative preventive health successes and have survived with cultural strength despite the enormous ongoing challenges that have come with colonialism.  We encourage abstracts of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander prevention stories, especially those that demonstrate how their activities can promote and incorporate Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community control and self-determination.

 

Prevention frameworks and methodologies

Since the Ottawa Charter for Health Promotion in 1986 there have been many useful frameworks and methodologies for preventive health.  We encourage abstracts which explore and have used such approaches, from settings approaches to co-design, which can add to our understanding about how to do prevention.

​

Longer term implementation and planning

Too many preventive health stories do not get beyond a new research project, a pilot project, or a new preventive health program with only short-term funding.  We welcome abstracts exploring the experiences and challenges of long-term implementation and planning of prevention activities and the embedding prevention activities in core functions and funding.

 

Topical prevention challenges

Our media is full of stories of preventive health challenges, e.g., the heating climate, obesity, vaping, family violence, and mental health.  We welcome abstracts exploring any topical challenges that go beyond the magnitude of the problem and talk about creating more supportive environments for their prevention and addressing the underlying determinants of these challenges.  

 

Disruption by AI, machine learning and social media

The disruptions caused by AI, machine learning and social media offer opportunities for preventive health, but also challenges, such as the rapid spread of fear-inducing misleading information by social media.  We welcome abstracts exploring these digital technologies and how they can best be used for prevention activities.

​

Presentation Types (Face-to-face & Pre-recorded options available)

 

We are asking abstract submitters to express interest in your preferred presentation method. Please note, this cannot be guaranteed.

​

Long Oral Presentations

Presenters have a total of 10 minutes to present. If time allows, Q&A will occur at the conclusion of all presentations. Abstract submitted must have clear learning objectives and outcomes. Please note, places are limited.

 

Rapid Fire Presentations (Short Oral)

Presenters have a total of 6 minutes presentation time using up to 6 PowerPoint slides (including any title and reference slides). If time allows, Q&A will occur at the conclusion of all presentations. Please note, places are limited.

 

Conversation Starter Presentations

Presenters have a total of 3 minutes presentation time using a maximum of 4 PowerPoint slides (including any title and reference slides). Presenters should give the ultimate elevator pitch. Think about how to best engage the audience to continue the conversation with you out of session.

​

Tabletop Presentations

Tabletop presentations act as a pathway for networking and sharing of information directly in an interactive setting. These are particularly suited to presenters talking about their on-the-ground experiences and for sharing and demonstrating the resources that they use. 

​

Presenters have 5 minutes to present and 5 minutes to interact with the 9 other people on their table. Once the 10 minutes is up, the presenter will move to the next table and repeat their presentation, with each presenter presenting to several tables during the session.  Please note, places are limited.

​

Please note, concurrent session presentations will only be available to view by face-to-face delegates at the venue.

​​

Abstract Requirements

​

• Presentations require the submission of an abstract and will be peer reviewed.

• Refer to the online abstract submission or manual abstract submission form for requirements.

• The abstract title should be no longer than 12 words.

• The abstract should be a maximum of 300 words in simple text paragraphs without images or tables. If providing information about whether the relevant Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community/ies have provided permission to publicise the research findings, an extra 50 words is permitted.

• If there is more than one author, all correspondence will be sent to the person whose name and email address is entered with the abstract.

• A maximum of two (2) abstracts may be submitted per presenting author. All abstracts must be original work and submitted in English.

• Abstract presenters must provide a pre-recorded video of their presentation by the due date to be available on demand for virtual attendees. Guidelines will be provided.

• Presenters must be registered to attend the conference to present.

• When abstract presentation offers are sent out, authors need to be accepted the offer to present. If no response is received within the specified timeframe, another abstract can be offered in its place.

• All abstract submissions must agree to the Speaker Terms and Conditions upon submission of the abstract.

​

​

Please note: All presenters must register at the time of confirming their acceptance presentation offer and pay the conference registration fee.

​

PHAA reserves the right to amend requirements for the Call For Abstracts.