The theme of this AEM consensus conference is Surveillance, Screening, and Intervention in the Emergency Department. We will focus on these key domains of ED-based public health practice. The conference will include a keynote speaker, lectures by content experts and clinicians, a lunchtime panel discussion, interactive facilitated workshops, and conference attendee voting on consensus issues.

 

Illness and injury related to risky health behaviors account for a substantial proportion of ED visits. Illicit drugs, alcohol, tobacco use, injury, interpersonal violence, and unsafe sexual behavior collectively account for approximately 30% of all ED visits. Individuals who present to the ED as a consequence of risky health behavior may be receptive to a “teachable moment;” thus, the ED may provide an opportune time for intervention by a healthcare provider. These behaviors have become the focus of extensive clinical investigation in emergency medicine. Studying health behaviors at the population level (via surveillance), and individual level (via screening), and designing interventions, positions emergency medicine at the nexus between clinical medicine’s traditional realm of disease- or injury-centered care, and the broader domains of population health and prevention.

 

The 2009 Academic Emergency Medicine (AEM) Consensus Conference on Public Health in the Emergency Department: Surveillance, Screening, and Intervention will be held on May 13, 2009, immediately preceding the Society for Academic Emergency Medicine (SAEM) Annual Meeting in New Orleans, LA.

 

Original contributions describing relevant research or concepts in this topic will be considered for publication in the November 2009 special topics issue of AEM if received by  Monday, March 2nd, 2009. All submissions will undergo peer review and publication cannot be guaranteed. Information and updates will also be posted in the  AEM journal, the SAEM Newsletter, and on the SAEM Web site.

 

Original papers, if accepted, will be published together with the conference proceedings in the November 2009 issue of Academic Emergency Medicine. Papers should be submitted via Manuscript Central --

 

http://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/aemj

 

 

It should be clearly stated that the manuscript is intended for consideration as an original submission for the 2009 Consensus Conference November issue. For queries, please contact: Steven L. Bernstein, MD, sbernste@montefiore.org, or Gail D'Onofrio,MD, MS, gail.donofrio@yale.edu, Consensus Conference Co-chairs. Learn More by reading this announcement . . . AEMCC 2009 Call 

 

(posted 10/16/2008 vty)

The goals of this conference are to:

 

• Increase awareness of the clinical burden of illness and injury related to risky health behaviors
• Review the current state of knowledge regarding ED surveillance, screening, and intervention
• Identify gaps in knowledge regarding the efficacy and effectiveness of these interventions
• Review challenges in the methodology of screening and intervention studies
• Define a research agenda in ED-based surveillance, screening, and intervention
• Explore options to improve the reliability and usability of administrative datasets used in surveillance
• Highlight funding sources for future research.

 

The major output of this conference will be the establishment of a research agenda for emergency physicians and others to study the epidemiology and treatment of risky health behaviors, design evidence-based, cost- and time-sensitive interventions, and examine effects on clinically pertinent outcomes. A related aim will be to identify strategies to demonstrate the importance of ED-based health behavior intervention to educators, policy makers, and funding sources.