Call for abstracts

11th Annual Health Care Institute: Challenges and Solutions in Caring for the Unhoused in Our Community

Pre-Conference April 21, 2026  Conference April 22 & 23, 2026

CONFERENCE THEME: Challenges and Solutions in Caring for the Unhoused in Our Community

  • Podiums Presentations will be given a 30 minute presentation time to include questions and answer time.
    • Podium submission Deadline: March 4, 2026
    • Acceptance for Podiums will be emailed no later than March 16th, 2026
  • Poster presentations will be presented (date and time TBA).  Authors will be required to stand by their poster for an hour during the designated session.
    • Poster submission Deadline: March 20, 2026
    • Poster acceptances will be emailed on an ongoing basis
    • Poster Competition
      • Professional Awards to the Top Three Posters: all presented posters will be entered in the poster competition. The committee will judge based on submission criteria, format, and your verbal presentation during the session. Awards will be given out during the wrap up on Thursday after the last session, and the first listed author must be present to be eligible to win.
      • Student Awards to the Top Three Student Posters: all presented posters will be entered in the poster competition. The committee will judge based on submission criteria, format, and your verbal presentation during the session. Awards will be given out during the wrap up on Thursday after the last session, and the first listed author must be present to be eligible to win.
  • All accepted abstracts presenters are expected to come to the conference and attend all of the sessions.  They are also required to pay for their Conference registration for the full 2 days (April 22 and April 23, 2026) and cover their own travel and lodging.
  • Confirmation of receipt of abstract will be emailed only to the first author, please allow a few business days.

Topics of interest related to the Theme of the Conference Challenges and Solutions in Caring for the Unhoused in Our Community (BUT NOT LIMITED TO):

  • Identify and understand barriers to care
  • Empower lived experience
  • Mental and behavioral health support
  • Health risks and preventative healthcare
  • Integrating healthcare and housing
  • Preventing discharge into homelessness
  • Advocating for policy changes
  • Reducing stigma
  • Bridge the gap between healthcare and social services
  • Systemic changes to prevent and end homelessness
  • Collaborating with continuum of care (CoC) networks
  • Veteran challenges
  • Education training and workforce development
  • Collaborative justice approaches
  • Challenges, services and solutions for specialized populations

Guidelines:

  1. Prior to submitting your abstract, all listed authors must complete UT Health San Antonio  DLL Financial Relationships Information
  2. Follow the format listed below – THERE IS NO WORD COUNT, KEEP THE ABSTRACT TO 1 PAGE
  3. All accepted podiums & poster presenters must REGISTER, pay the registration fee, pay their own travel, lodging and all expenses related to the conference
  4. Submit abstract as an email attachment in MS Word format (do not use PDF) to Cindy gutierrezc8@uthscsa.edu
  5. Attach your CV to the abstract email.

Format:

  1. MS Word document font 12 Times New Roman
  2. Abstract title (do not put in all caps)
  3. Presenting author’s name, credentials, title, organization name, email and phone #
  4. Additional authors’ names, credentials, title, organization
  5. Identify if you are submitting for Poster or Podium
  6. Identify if you are a student or a professional

Abstract content- must include:

  1. Problem/Purpose relevant to conference theme/objective
  2. Background
  3. Discussion of issue or concepts/variables of interest
  4. Population, sample, setting if research & description of community resource
  5. Methods (research) or interventions (practice/teaching)
  6. Findings, conclusions & implications
  7. References (REQUIRED)