2026 Illinois Minority Health Conference
NIU Naperville Conference Center
1120 E. Diehl Rd. Naperville, IL 60563
Call for Workshop Abstracts
Due: July 10, 2026 by 5:00 p.m. CT
The Illinois Department of Public Health – Center for Minority Health Services invites public health, health care providers, payers, community partners, public health students, and other professionals to submit an abstract for consideration for the 2026 Minority Health Conference to be held on October 27-28, 2026. This year’s conference theme is Community Over Chaos: The Next 15 Years of Health Equity in Illinois.
2026 CALL FOR WORKSHOP ABSTRACTS TIMELINE
July 10, 2026: Call for abstracts closes.
August 5, 2026: Decisions for all abstracts received will be sent via email. Disclosure form will be sent to accepted presenters. This is an approximate date and is subject to change.
August 19, 2026: Disclosure form due.
The 2026 Illinois Minority Health Conference will be in-person and selected presenters must attend the meeting in person.
For general presenter questions, please email dph.cmhs.info@illinois.gov.
ABOUT WORKSHOP ABSTRACTS
This conference uses a broad definition of “minority” to include various historically marginalized and underserved populations. This includes racial and ethnic minorities (African Americans, Hispanic/Latinos, Asians, American Indian/Alaska Native, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islanders), people with disabilities, people experiencing homelessness, undocumented individuals, seniors, justice involved individuals, sexual and gender minorities, rural communities, and other groups that confront stigma, discrimination, other social disadvantages, and health inequities.
Each workshop will be its own stand-alone 50-minute session with up to 30 participants per session to allow for small group discussions and interaction. These sessions should focus on skill-building and providing tangible tools or resources for participants. Abstracts will be accepted for individual presentations, co-presentations, and panel presentations. Regardless of the number of presenters, no more than 40 minutes should be used to share the material with the remaining 10 minutes used for questions and answers. Submissions for Track 2 (see description below) should plan to use no more than 30 minutes to share material with the remaining time spent on the experiential portion.
GUIDELINES FOR ABSTRACT SUBMISSIONS
All abstracts should be submitted via the form on the conference page. Please email dph.cmhs.info@illinois.gov if you need an alternative submission method. You will be asked to provide the following information:
- Main Presenter Contact Information
This includes their full name, email, organization, work title, and credentials (if applicable). - Co-Presenter(s) Contact Information (if applicable)
This includes their full name, email, organization, work title, and credentials (if applicable). - Title of Presentation (must be 25 words or less)
Presentation title as it will appear on the conference materials. - Specify in order of preference which track best applies to your presentation (listed below).
These can be single-speaker or small panel discussions with up to 3 presenters. - Brief description of the presentation for publication material (must be 250 words or less)
The abstract description must identify the importance of the materials being presented and any practical applications. It must be clearly written and describe how it is related to the conference’s overall goal. The shortened description will be used to promote sessions. Please ensure it accurately describes the intent of the session. - Two (2) learning objectives.
Please use measurable action words (verbs) to describe your objectives (e.g., explain, demonstrate, analyze, formulate, discuss, compare, differentiate, describe, assess, evaluate, identify, design, define).
Please note: We offer continuing education units for the conference. We use the information you provide to ensure attendees receive credit for the content shared.
CONFERENCE TRACKS
Conference workshops will be organized around four tracks. Each of the tracks will have a special focus area to assist conference attendees in getting the most out of their experience. This year’s tracks are described below.
Track 1: Emerging Topics in Minority Health. This track focuses on how societal, political, environmental, and economic circumstances impact health access and outcomes. Topics may include artificial intelligence (AI), digital health literacy, telehealth, geographic information systems (GIS), cultural and holistic models for improving health, political determinants of health, and food as medicine to name a few. Presenters should discuss health inequities along with strategies to mitigate long-standing structural and institutional barriers.
Track 2: Innovative & Evidence-Based Approaches & Experiences. This track explores innovative strategies, evidence-based approaches, and community-driven responses for reducing health disparities and improving population health outcomes for individuals and communities. Presenters should provide practical examples that balance learning about the strategy and experiencing it in real time at the conference. Submissions for this track should plan to use no more than 30 minutes to share material with the remaining time spent on the experiential portion. Be sure to describe what attendees will be doing as part of your abstract submission.
Track 3: Building Unprecedented Partnerships & Collaboration. This track explores health equity advancements through collaboration. Of particular interest are topics that move beyond bridging silos between traditional partners and instead work with unlikely partners to improve population health. Presenters should demonstrate how unprecedented partnerships and collaborations for health equity can bring about meaningful change.
Track 4: Understanding Disparities in Healthcare Accessibility. This track explores ways to foster dialogue and collaboration among healthcare professionals, researchers, policymakers, advocates, and communities to address health inequities in the delivery of health care. Topics may include increasing language access, decreasing financial burden, creating barrier-free access, improving organizational health literacy, and addressing geographic accessibility to name a few. Presenters should describe insights and practical strategies for driving meaningful change in healthcare delivery and improving health outcomes for underserved populations.
POLICIES AND PROCEDURES
Presenters will be notified via email of abstract status around August 5, 2026. This is an approximate date and is subject to change. Abstract decision notices will be sent to the individual listed as the main presenter. It is the responsibility of the main presenter to ensure that all co-presenters are notified of the abstract status. Please email dph.cmhs.info@illinois.gov after August 12, 2026 if you haven’t been informed of your submission status.
Submission of an abstract constitutes a commitment to present the work in person if the abstract is accepted.
The conference planning committee reserves the right to combine similar presentations into one workshop and will notify presenters if this decision is made.
Compensation/Reimbursement Policy
If selected, the conference will provide the following:
- Waived conference registration fee.
- One (1) hotel night stay either the day before or the day you present at the conference.
- $300 honorarium per workshop.
This registration and hotel policy applies for up to 2 people for each workshop session (1 main presenter and 1 co-presenter, if applicable). If the workshop is in the form of a panel discussion, the conference will pay for up to 3 presenters (1 main presenter and 2 co-presenters).
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