AOPHA Conference

Submission Guidelines

Submission Deadline: January 22, 2010

Annual Meeting Strategic Theme
Our theme for 2010 poses an ethical, philosophical, practical and thought-provoking question. It is intended to stimulate a rich dialogue as we consider the varying needs of seniors (and other populations) and the models of service and care delivery that will be required to serve them. Who Decides? is more than a  question. It is a shift in mindset – a recognition that the current landscape is changing, and as it changes, the role of everyone involved – from consumers to family members to direct care workers to CEOs and boards – is evolving.

Audience
The Annual Conference audience is comprised of experienced and knowledgeable decision makers/senior-level staff from diverse not-for-profit aging services organizations including assisted living facilities, continuing care retirement communities, home- and community-based services, multi-facility organizations, nursing facilities and senior housing.

AOPHA attendees greatly desire learning opportunities that offer indispensable hands-on knowledge, provide new cutting-edge aging services strategies and demonstrate measurable business impact/results all within an educational format that enables participants to share and learn from their own experiences and from their peers around them.

Presentation Length
Sessions are offered in a variety of time slots over the two days of the conference and are 1.0 hour or 1.5 hour concurrent sessions.

Learning Tracks and Session Topics
The 2010 AOPHA Annual Conference multidisciplinary education program is organized into the following topic areas/learning tracks:

  • Best Practices and Innovations
  • Care and Services
  • Financial Management
  • Leadership and Strategy
  • Management and Operations
  • Marketing, Philanthropy and Community Relations
  • Public Policy and Legal Issues
  • Workforce Solutions and Professional Development

A wide variety of sessions on timely, front-of-mind topics will be offered at the conference. Sessions on best practices, innovations, technology and the future of aging services are of particular interest for the educational offerings.

Note: Sessions are intended to educate/support learning and, therefore, may not sell, promote or pitch any specific product or service.
AOPHA seeks presentations that enable participants to share and learn from their own experiences and those of their peers. To create these shared-learning opportunities, we encourage the incorporation of interactive educational methods in applications.

AAHSA/AOPHA Quality First Integration
Working in support of the Advancing Excellence in Nursing Homes campaign, the Local Area Network for Excellence (LANE) and within the AAHSA/AOPHA Quality First strategic framework, session content should be in alignment with one or more Elements of Quality:

  • Commitment
  • Governance and Accountability
  • Leading-Edge Care and Services
  • Community Involvement
  • Continuous Quality Improvement
  • Human Resources Development
  • Consumer-Friendly Information
  • Consumer Participation
  • Research Findings and Education
  • Public Trust and Consumer Confidence

The above elements are intended to cover a broad range of key aging services areas and to serve as the platform for achieving AAHSA/AOPHA Quality First. For a detailed explanation of this initiative visit: www.aahsa.org/qualityfirst.

Evaluation Process
AOPHA committee members, experts in the field and association staff will review all submissions. Proposals will be evaluated to ultimately develop an interactive, high-quality, well-balanced, shared-learning education program via the following criteria:

  • Timeliness and/or significant relevance of topic to aging services
  • Practical and/or replicable applicability of concept for aging services providers
  • Overall quality and innovation of session content
  • Well-defined session content (including session narrative and learning objectives)
  • Alignment with the AAHSA/AOPHA Quality First Elements of Quality
  • Qualifications, expertise and experience level of speaker(s)

All prospective faculty members are required to keep the meeting dates of August 31-September 2 available until notified by April 30, 2010 of the status of their potential program participation. AOPHA cannot accept inquiries regarding the status of proposals during the selection process.

Session Handouts
Handouts serve as a resource and a reference for attendees, as well as a refresher after the session—AOPHA strongly encourages the use of handouts, as our members have come to expect them. Handouts should only include relevant and pertinent information to the session content. Handouts will be made available to all conference attendees prior to the Annual Conference. Handouts need to be sent electronically and received by AOPHA no later than July 30, 2010. Supplemental handout information will be sent to all selected speakers on a timely basis.

Faculty Expense Reimbursement
AOPHA cannot pay honoraria, travel, per diem or other costs for faculty. Faculty members are, however, invited to attend the Annual Conference during the day of their session as a guest of AOPHA. AOPHA will make provision for audiovisual equipment with the exception of LCD projectors as noted in the application.

Submitting Your Proposal
Complete and submit a Proposal Application for each proposed session by January 22, 2010. Proposal Applications that fail to meet all guidelines or are incomplete cannot be considered for review.

An individual is limited to submitting a maximum of three (3) proposals and may be a faculty member for no more than three (3) sessions during the meeting. A company/organization is limited to submitting a maximum of six (6) proposals all proposals submitted by an individual from a specific company/organization count towards the company/organization limit of six.

Proceed with Proposal Application

Questions? Email us