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.