2015 Call for Abstracts

Online abstract submission is now closed.
Thank you to those who have submitted an abstract!

Workshops & Posters

OCSA invites you to submit a workshop for the 2015 OCSA Conference:
Leading the Shift: The Power of Thinking Differently

ABOUT OCSA

The Ontario Community Support Association’s mission is to strengthen and promote home and community support as the foundation of a sustainable health care system.

OUR DELEGATES

Conference delegates are primarily CEOs, EDs, board members and senior managers of Home and Community Support provider organizations across Ontario, in addition to those who collaborate with the sector including: LHINs, CCACs, Hospitals, Long-Term Care, Community Health Centres, Community Mental Health and Addiction providers, Health Quality Ontario and other provincial government agencies.

Our delegates from HSP organizations work in these settings:

not-for-profit home and community support organizations (including volunteer services, personal support and nursing services)
organizations that provide services for individuals with physical disabilities
organizations that provide services for individuals with acquired brain injury

SCOPE

More complex clients, the need for better outcomes, seamless transitions, integrated care teams ‐ these are all facets of the new reality of healthcare, and the home and community care sector is positioned to lead the shift!
We have to do things differently to get different results. That’s why the theme of this year’s conference is so important; The Power of Thinking Differently will give us all the opportunity to think outside our usual day‐to‐day box, learn from other’s successes and challenges, and come together to truly work collaboratively to create the shift that the system needs.

Objectives of the conference are to explore the evolving and expanding role of home and community support, showcase innovation and strengthen health system relationships.

For two days in October, we will inspire providers and our health system partners to think differently and work together to chart our course in the new healthcare landscape.

WORKSHOPS

We welcome workshop proposals from individuals as well as organizations. Please note that we encourage sessions that are interactive and/or include case scenarios. Workshops will have a duration of 60 minutes.

POSTERS

There will be dedicated times for poster presentations in the program. Presenters will have the opportunity to present their posters to delegates and answer questions. More details will be available soon.
Poster development guidelines are available here.

TOPICS

Topics should clearly support the conference theme of Leading the Shift: The Power of Thinking Differently. We are seeking workshops that are focused and specific. Topics may include, but are not limited to:
Clients and Caregivers First!
We are seeking abstracts that showcase superior models of family‐centred support. We want to learn how you have engaged staff and volunteers, the barriers you’ve overcome, the impact on the organization and most importantly, the outcomes to clients and their families.

Integrated Models of Care

In this world of higher acuity clients, more diverse populations and the understanding that people want to stay at home, it is crucially important that our health system is fully integrated. Integrated models of care and collaborative care teams help ensure client‐centred care and improved outcomes. In this category of abstracts we want to learn about integration approaches and collaborative teams that focus on providing care to diverse populations, have linkages across the health continuum (i.e primary care, acute or LTC) and showcase successful and client‐centred care transitions.

Thinking Differently: Creative Solutions to Wicked Problems

Calling on sector pioneers, risk takers and creative thinkers! We welcome abstracts that demonstrate new approaches to solving tough challenges. It’s important to include in your abstract how you will share your lessons learned.

Technology ‐ Innovation in Home and Community Care

Technology is constantly changing and improving. In this track, we want to feature innovative technologies that support our sector and improve client outcomes while enhancing how healthcare practitioners do their jobs.

Quality Improvement

We are seeking abstracts related to client safety, performance measurement, Quality Improvement Plans, meeting the requirements of the Excellent Care For All Act, engaging staff in your quality agenda and quality tools. We are especially interested in lessons learned while implementing quality initiatives.

Change Leadership

Transformation characteristics such as organizational scale, the magnitude of change, the duration and strategic importance of change are all important variables. Yet most organizations tend to dwell on the plans and processes. Abstracts in this stream will explore the capabilities leaders need to drive change across an organization while motivating and supporting staff.

SPEAKER COMPENSATION

Workshop Presenters: A complimentary one day conference registration for the day of presentation is available for two presenters per session (additional registrations may be provided upon request).

Poster Presenters: One complimentary conference registration on October 21. There will be dedicated time within the program for poster presentations. Poster presenters are expected to be present during this time. There will be no compensation for travel.

SELECTION PROCESS

All abstracts will be forwarded to the Workshop Selection Committee electronically. Abstracts will be evaluated based on relevance to our overall conference theme, clarity, originality and quality of content. Applicants will be contacted via email once a decision has been made by the selection committee.

HOW TO APPLY

All abstracts must be submitted online. All information fields requested must be completed.

IMPORTANT DATES:
Deadline for submitting an abstract – May 11, 2015 - 11:59 p.m. (EST)
Workshop / poster author notification – Authors will be notified in early June.

Online abstract submission is now closed.
Thank you to those who have submitted an abstract!

Questions?

Workshop and poster presentation details:
Sue Davidson
Director of Training, Ontario Community Support Association
416-256-3010/1-800-267-6272, ext. 273
sue.davidson@ocsa.on.ca

Abstract submission process:
Daniela Nogueira
Conference Secretariat
519.263.5050 / 519.263.6003 (direct)
daniela@bayelygroup.com