The 3rd National Summit on Preconception Health and Health Care:
Improving Preconception Health in a New Era of Health Care
CALL FOR ABSTRACTS
June 12-14, 2011
Tampa/St. Petersburg, Florida

The 3rd National Summit on Preconception Health and Health Care will be held in Tampa/St. Petersburg, Florida on June 12-14, 2011. It will commence on Sunday evening and adjourn on Tuesday afternoon. The Summit is being planned and hosted by the Florida Department of Health, U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), and the national Preconception Health and Health Care Initiative steering committee which includes representatives from the CDC, HRSA, American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, Association of Maternal and Child Health Programs, CityMatCH, March of Dimes, and National Healthy Start Association.

The theme of the summit is Improving Preconception Health in a New Era of Health Care. The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA), as signed into law by President Obama, will assure health coverage for all Americans. Implementation of health reform offers an opportunity to improve womenâ??s health throughout the life span, particularly for women in the prime childbearing years (ages 18-44 years). Universal coverage will be a major step toward improving the health of women, but assuring coverage is only one step. A high-quality health care system must assure access to the right care, in the right setting, at the right time.

The objectives of the summit are to:

• Advance opportunities to improve preconception health that are supported by provisions the Affordable Care Act (ACA)
• Promote use of the evidence base for preconception care
• Showcase the ideas, innovation, and expertise that have emerged from the field over the past five years.

The program organizers are seeking abstracts for consideration for oral or poster presentations during the summit, as well as proposals for special sessions (e.g., three presentations on related program implementation, research investigation, or case studies). See topics below.

The deadline for submitting abstracts is January 21, 2011. Authors will be notified of the decision no later than February 21, 2011.

Abstracts are being solicited in the following areas related to preconception health and health care:

1. Health Policy and Finance
   1. Implications of insurance reforms
   2. Medicaid financing for preconception and interconception care
   3. Strategies for improving coverage and benefits (e.g., well woman visits)
   4. Implications of the Prevention and Public Health Fund/incorporating preconception/interconception into PPHF activities
   5. Financing to assure an adequate supply of qualified care providers, including community health centers and other primary care providers
   6. Financing and assuring medical homes for women
2. Clinical
   1. Strategies to provide evidence-based preconception care
   2. Tools for integrating preconception care into clinical practice
   3. Use of Reproductive Life Plans in practice
   4. Primary care innovations to improve womenâ??s health
   5. Evaluations of promising practices
3. Public Health
   1. State- or local-level action plans to improve womenâ??s health
   2. Promising practices from state and local public health programs
   3. Lessons from Healthy Start interconception care efforts
   4. Evidence-based practices for incorporating preconception care into family planning , WIC, STD, and other public health programs
   5. Integration of preconception health into wellness and chronic disease programs
4. Consumer
   1. Results of social marketing campaigns
   2. Research on preconception health messages across the life span
   3. Evaluations of consumer health education materials
   4. Research on informing, outreach, and education for at-risk populations
   5. Preconception health promotion and education materials and methods
5. Data, Research and Evaluation
   1. Development and use of performance measures
   2. Monitoring preconception care and womenâ??s health
   3. Quality improvement approaches to improving womenâ??s health
   4. Participatory Action Research on preconception
   5. Approaches to evaluating the impact of preconception care
6. Eliminating Disparities in Womenâ??s Health and Birth Outcomes
   1. Research on the impact of preconception health and health care on disparities in womenâ??s health and birth outcomes
   2. Eliminating access barriers and assuring equity in preconception care
   3. Evaluations of programs designed to eliminate disparities
   4. Research on unequal treatment in womenâ??s reproductive and primary health care
   5. The role of public clinics for underserved women, infants, and families

Papers with new findings and those which reflect the themes listed above will be given highest priority. The organizers also encourage the submission of abstracts dealing with other preconception health and health care issues. Provocative conceptual and methodologic papers which are deemed by reviewers to contribute to an improved understanding of prevention strategies will also be considered.

All abstracts will be peer reviewed.

Peer Review: Abstracts will undergo a blind peer review based on the following criteria:

• Scientific Merit
• Programmatic/Policy Significance
• Presentation/Clarity
• Implications

Abstracts are more likely to be accepted if the methods are clear, the results are specific, and the work has practical implications. Highest priority will be given to papers that present results that are complete, clear, and relevant to state and local MCH practice.

In order for an abstract to be considered for review the following instructions must be strictly adhered to:

• Abstracts MUST be limited to 350 words (excluding title; there will be no exceptions).
• Do NOT include any personal identifying information in the abstract text.
• Abstracts MUST be structured with the following subheadings:
  1. Background: statement of the issue to be addressed.
  2. Study Question: one sentence stating your topic or study question(s).
  3. Methods: concise description of design and analysis methodology. (Note methods will vary widely across policy, program, data, or other types of work.)
  4. Results: key findings from analysis and limitations.
  5. Conclusions: summary of key findings.
  6. Implications: statement of potential relevance and uses of this study/information for science, policy, programs, or services.

Edit abstracts carefully before submission. Abstracts will be made available to conference participants in the Program Book as submittedâ??no substitutes or editorial changes will be made. Please note: If the abstract submitted does not include all of the above categories or is longer than 350 words, it will not be considered for review.

Accepted abstracts will be published in the program book and will be made available on the Internet following the Summit. You will be notified by email of your abstract's acceptance status by February 21, 2011. Presenting authors must register for the summit.

Scientific sessions will be moderated and include no more than four presentations. Oral presentations should be no longer than 15 minutes.