Child Health Symposium

Abstract Proposal Submission (due March 24, 2024)

Potential presenters are invited to submit an abstract of a description of their brief presentation via the electronic form posted below by March 24, 2024. Proposals should reflect one (or more) of the purposes of the symposium (i.e., present current research findings and best practices in child or youth health and well-being) and/or address the theme of the Child Health Symposium.

Brief Oral Presentations: Length of presentations should be 13-15 minutes (short presentations allow symposium attendees to be exposed to a variety of research studies and best practices).

Poster Presentations: CHS posters will be in person during the Joint Child Poster Session on the evening of May 28, 2024. There may be an opportunity to post the poster on an online platform for viewing prior to the CHS. Poster presentations should use the accessible poster design format available at these links: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1RwJbhkCA58 and https://youtu.be/SYk29tnxASs.

NOTE: All presentation abstracts will be included in materials for the symposium. Presentation and poster handouts will be made available for attendees to download.

Target Audience

The target audience for the Child Health Symposium includes: youth, families, researchers, educators, clinicians (e.g., behaviour therapists, occupational therapists, physical therapists, speech language pathologists, recreational therapists, social workers, nurses, physicians, etc.), service leaders, and undergraduate and graduate students.

Instructions for Preparing Submission

Using the online form located in the tab below, please prepare your submission in the following format:

• Text should be single-spaced
• Complete the Contact Information for the Contact Person
  • This will be the only person contacted about the proposal, and will be responsible for communicating with other presenters and co-authors involved in the proposal)
• List the names of all the presenting author(s) and other contributing authors and full name of each author’s affiliation/organization
  • Include broad organization name only, specific department/program name is not needed
  • Use an asterisk (*) to indicate presenting authors
  • For example: Jane Doe*, Western University; John Smith*, TVCC; Alison Betty, London Health Sciences Centre
• Choose the type of presentation format (oral or poster)
  • Also indicate whether an alternative format would be acceptable
• Use up to five keywords that best describe your presentation (be specific)
  • For example: intervention and clinical practice, brain injury, measure development, youth, quality of life, play and participation, program evaluation
• Use a descriptive title
  • Titles will be used in the registration process for session selection
• Please do not exceed the 250-word limit for your abstract
  • The abstract should clearly describe the purpose of the presentation
  • Reports of research studies (completed or underway) may want to include details of the population studied; study purposes, objectives or hypothesis, method, results and conclusions of the study, implications for practice, and acknowledgement of source(s) of funding
  • It is not necessary to use subheadings to define each section
  • Ensure that the abstract is accessible to all audiences (e.g., expand acronyms, limit use of jargon or specialty/technical language
• Submissions from students, researchers and clinicians are encouraged and might focus on clinical observations, questions, case reports, or best practices in service delivery
• Ensure submitted information is complete, clearly communicated and spelled correctly
  • Presentation title, abstract, authors’ names, and affiliations will appear in materials for the symposium
• All proposals submitted will be acknowledged upon receipt

Proposal Selection Committee

The CHS Selection Committee will review all proposals submitted by the due date (March 24, 2024) by looking at the submission title and 250-word abstract. Preference will be given to those submissions that are clearly communicated and address one of the purposes of the CHS. Proposals will be selected to ensure a varied program. Note that some submitters may be offered an alternative presentation format (dependent on the total number of submissions received). The Selection Committee’s decisions will be final and there will be no appeal process. Selected presenters will be notified in early April and provided with specific details for formatting the presentations and posters.

To submit an abstract proposal please complete the Abstract Proposal Submission Form by clicking this link or scanning the QR code below:

Register online for the 2024 Child Health Symposium

> Register online

Registration opens April 22, 2024. You can register to participate in-person or virtually.

Note: Only the main conference room sessions will be available virtually (using the Zoom platform).

Date/Time: Tuesday May 28, 2024, 9:00 a.m. – 3:45 p.m. EDT

Location: Sumner Auditorium, Victoria Hospital, B Zone, LHSC, 800 Commissioners Rd. E, London and TVCC

Cost: $40 for in-person (includes continental breakfast and lunch) or free for limited virtual main conference room.

Make it a 2-Day Event with the Child Health Research Day

The Child Health Research Day (in-person and virtual) takes place on May 29, 2024 at LHSC and Goodwill Industries. The day features a keynote address, and more oral research presentations focused on basic science, clinical, and medical focused research.

Register online: https://whova.com/portal/registration/child1_202405/

Join us in-person for the Joint Child and Youth Health Poster Presentation Session and Showcase Speaker.

Register online.

Once again this year we are collaborating with many different disciplines and programs to highlight some of the research and work that is being done in child and youth health and well-being.

Location: Goodwill Industries (255 Horton St E, London, Ontario, N6B 1L1)

Date/Time: Tuesday May 28, 2024 5:00 p.m. – 9:00 p.m. EDT

The evening also includes the poster session (5:00 p.m.), a keynote address by Dr. Gail Teachman (6:00 p.m.), refreshments and snacks, and networking.

This poster session is co-presented by the: Department of Paediatrics; Child and Adolescent Mental Health; Children's Health Foundation; Children's Health Research Institute; Children's Hospital London Health Sciences Centre; and Western University's: Collaborative Graduate Specialization in Developmental Biology, Developmental Disabilities Program, Paediatric Surgery, Schulich Medicine and Dentistry, Faculty of Health Sciences; and TVCC.

Registrants can preview posters on the Whova conference app beginning Tuesday, May 21, 2024.

Dr. Gillian King, PhD

Distinguished Senior Scientist, Bloorview Research Institute, Toronto, ON, Canada
Canada Research Chair in Optimal Care for Children with Disabilities (Tier 1)

Gillian King is a Distinguished Senior Scientist (Bloorview Research Institute), Professor in the Department of Occupational Science and Occupational Therapy (University of Toronto), and Canada Research Chair in Optimal Care for Children with Disabilities (Tier 1). She holds adjunct appointments in the School of Communication Sciences and Disorders and the Arthur Labatt School of Nursing (both at Western University) and in the School of Rehabilitation Science at McMaster University.

Gillian has held over 100 peer-reviewed grants, authored over 245 peer-reviewed articles, and has developed and published 22 measures for use in pediatric rehabilitation.

Her work focuses on psychosocial aspects of care, including client engagement, family-centred care, client and family resiliency, transition programming, and service delivery. Her current research focuses on client, parent, and therapist engagement in service delivery, the development of an up-to-date measure of family-centred care, the mental health and the participation of children and youth with disabilities, solution-focused coaching, and the role of resiliency in rehabilitation service delivery.

• Learn more about Dr. King
• Pediatric Rehabilitation Intervention Measure of Engagement (PRIME)

The Family Voice: Families Share their Stories About What Supports their Wellness

The Child Health Symposium opens with the Panel Session, which is a favourite of attendees. In this session we will hear directly from family members about their strengths and challenges. We will learn what helps support families’ well-being, resilience, engagement, and participation.

Day 1: 2024 Child Health Symposium

For more information about this event, contact: