The D&I science community has known for decades that it takes too long for too little of evidence-based care to reach everyone who could benefit. Much energy has been spent on the second part of the equation—can we increase the volume of evidence-based care delivered--with less attention to the optimal pace at which this should happen. This year’s conference theme will address this underexplored concept of the pace of D&I.

While one clear goal of D&I science is to understand how to effectively speed the dissemination and implementation of evidence into practice, there are circumstances that may require slowing down. To overcome implementation barriers and design effective strategies, our field recognizes the importance of building trust and fostering engagement with critical partners, ensuring thoughtful and intentional adaptations for sustainability and scaling, and accounting for evolving evidence that may indicate de-implementation. Furthermore, the increase in frequency and intensity of disasters (such as climate change, global pandemics, and war) creates circumstances in which rapid implementation is critical. Reflecting critically on the pace through which our research, practice and policy communities can effectively spread and integrate evidence-based practices into service settings can lead to improved expectations, actions and outcomes from discovery to delivery. In addition, appropriate timelines for considering longer-term implementation outcomes, such as sustainment, adaptation/evolution and de-implementation of interventions will help support partners in the full implementation life cycle.

In this seventeenth year of the D&I Conference, we will explore methodological advancements, challenges and opportunities to understanding how to investigate and optimize implementation pace across healthcare, community and public health systems.

This conference intends to support collective understanding of the D&I research agenda to address these areas through a combination of plenaries, concurrent sessions, and posters that will present research findings and set the field up for the next decade.

The abstract solicitation and conference structure have been designed to focus our thinking and discussion on the highest priorities for dissemination and implementation science now and in the future to help optimize health and health care in the U.S. and globally. Given the breadth of the field and the importance of maximizing opportunities for participants to follow consistent themes throughout the concurrent sessions of the meeting, we are including nine thematic tracks to organize the conference agenda.

Dissemination and Implementation Science seeks to promote and rigorously evaluate strategies for integrating evidence-based approaches into clinical and diverse community settings via public health practice, healthcare delivery, and healthcare policy. The intent of this research is to investigate and address social, behavioral, economic, and organizational factors and policies that impede effective dissemination and implementation of evidence-based clinical, public health, and organizational findings, test new approaches to improve health programming, and determine causal relationships between the strategies to implement interventions and the impacts of their use. Dissemination and Implementation Science is also characterized by a focus on variations in dissemination and implementation processes (e.g., how evidence/interventions are integrated) and how the context (e.g., setting, population, and economic drivers) leads to heterogeneity of results. Thus, the conference seeks novel research or conceptual papers that address any of the topics included within the thematic tracks, with an emphasis on empirical findings for how best to integrate evidence-based interventions within clinical and community settings and/or how to recast the nature or conduct of the research itself to make it more relevant and actionable in those settings.

We are now accepting abstract submissions for the 17th Annual Conference, December 8-11, 2024.

Submission Deadline: July 18, 2024 at 5:00 PM Eastern Time

Abstracts are encouraged for four types of scientific sessions: Individual Oral presentations, Panel presentations, Poster presentations, and Interactive Pre-Conference Workshops. Please see below for additional guidance on abstract submissions based on the type of session proposed.

For individual oral, panel, or poster presentations: Authors will be required to select a track for their abstract and must adhere to the format: Background, Methods, Findings, and Implications for D&I Science. Priority will be given to abstracts that address the overall conference theme, fit well in one of the conference tracks, and present high-quality data to support abstract conclusions.

For interactive pre-conference workshops: Authors will be required to provide a detailed workshop description (including an agenda), 3 learning objectives, and an explanation of how diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) will be included. Priority will be given to workshops that are engaging, skills-based, and interactive.

Abstract Tracks:

• Behavioral Health
• Building the Future of D&I Science: Capacity Building, Infrastructure, and Emerging Research Areas
• Clinical Care Settings: Patient-level Interventions
• Clinical Care Settings: System-level Interventions
• Global Dissemination and Implementation Science
• Health Policy Dissemination and Implementation Science
• Models, Measures, and Methods
• Prevention and Public Health
• Promoting Health Equity and Eliminating Disparities

Note: Abstracts presenting results of empirical research should report completed studies or substantial interim results. Abstracts describing proposed or early-stage studies are not encouraged.

Review Criteria for Individual Abstracts and Panels:

Abstracts will be reviewed and scored based on the following submission criteria, with preference being given to those that:

1. Show relevance to D&I Science
2. Focus on the conference theme and tracks (see Track Areas of Focus)
3. Utilize rigorous and relevant research methods
4. Present high quality data to support findings
5. Adequately demonstrate how the study will advance the field

Review Criteria for Pre-Conference Workshops:

1. Relevance to D&I Science
2. Important and timely topic
3. Clear learning objectives
4. Leader skill expertise
5. Interactive and attractive format

Instructions and Needed Information for Submitting a Presentation:

1. Track

   • Select the track that best fits your abstract. You may use the Track Areas of Focus to help select the most appropriate track.

     Note: If your abstract deals with COVID-19, please submit to the track that is most relevant rather than defaulting to the public health track (e.g., if the abstract is about COVID disparities, submit to disparities). This year's planning committee is particularly interested in highlighting cross-sectoral work as well as work that advances health equity and tackles structural racism.

2. Title

   • Enter your abstract title in sentence case. Do not end titles with a period.
   • Enter the submitter's e-mail address where correspondence should be sent regarding the submission.
   • Select your preferred method of presentation. If you select podium/poster, your abstract will first be considered for podium presentation. If not selected, it will automatically be considered for poster presentation. If you select poster only, your abstract will only be considered for poster presentation.
   • If accepted for oral presentation, select whether you and your co-authors approve of having your abstract submitted in a Supplement Issue of Implementation Science. Only abstracts selected for oral presentations will be included in the supplement.
   • Select whether you agree to present your abstract if selected.
   • Select whether the data for your abstract are complete.
   • Select your primary funding source.

3. Author

   • Type the lead presenter's name in the provided box.
   • If the author is already in the system, you can select their pre-populated information or update the information from previous years.
   • If the author is not already in the system, you will be prompted to create a new record.
   • You must include information for all required fields, indicated with a star, including Organization, Department, City, State, Zip, and Country, for all co-authors.
     • Please be sure to include affiliation information for all co-authors, or the abstract cannot be included in the conference proceedings.
   • To add additional authors, click the 'add new author' button.
   • You can edit the order of the co-authors by using the up and down arrows. The order they appear on the screen is the order they will be listed online.
   • Only one author should be selected as the presenting author.

4. Abstract Text

   • Enter the text of your abstract (maximum 350 words).
   • Do not remove the pre-populated headings. They do not count toward your word count.
   • Do not include authors' names or references.
   • You may include tables and special characters as desired.
   • If references are included, they must follow AMA style guidelines. References count towards total word count.

5. Confirmation

   • Review your submission.
   • You may return to any step of the process by using the left hand navigation bar.
   • You may print your submission at this point.
   • Once your submission is complete, press the 'conclude submission button'.
   • If you need an official letter of invitation to assist with a visa application, please use the Visa Generator option in the left menu once your submission is completed.
   • You may return to your submission to review or edit at any point before the July 18th deadline using the provided ID and password.

6. General Instructions

   No names or titles should be included in the abstract text. Names will be automatically hidden during the abstract review process and will be automatically inserted and properly formatted upon publication.

   Presenting authors will be automatically informed of the unique ID numbers and passwords assigned to their abstracts. Abstracts may be viewed and modified at any time between submission and the deadline, using the assigned ID# and password.

   Technical Support

   For help in submitting an abstract online, Contact technical support.

Resources:

Instructions and Frequently Asked Questions are available to assist in your presentation.

Session Descriptions and Track Areas of Focus are available for future reference.

Begin a submission to the following: