Call for abstracts is now open!
Abstract submissions are welcome for consideration for the Global Expo 2027: Transforming Health and Social Care Through Workforce Optimization, Digital Innovation, Assistive Technology and Disability Inclusion, which will be held in Dublin, Ireland, 24-25 February 2027.
What are we looking for?
Abstract submissions are invited for a global event bringing together researchers, policy makers, service providers, innovators, industry, and people with lived experience to advance more inclusive, resilient and technology enabled health and social care systems.
Anchored in a robust scientific programme, the Expo will explore how countries can strengthen and transform their health and social care systems taking a workforce innovation approach and using the latest evidence of what works. It will highlight practical pathways to expand equitable access to assistive technology, advance disability inclusion, and deliver sustainable, high performing, person centred systems.
The scientific programme component of the Expo invites a call for abstracts around three interconnected themes spanning workforce optimization, assistive technology and disability inclusion. Across these areas, submissions are invited that offer practical insights, new evidence, or scalable approaches to improving access, quality, equity, outcomes and can make an impact in health and social care supports and services.
Separately, the Expo will also provide a platform for manufacturers and developers of digital health products and assistive technology, to support delivery of health and social care services, while promoting independence, participation, and inclusion for people across the life course.
Submissions are welcomed from policymakers, researchers, practitioners, educators, service providers, innovators, product developers, manufacturers and suppliers, and people with lived experience whose work advances optimization of health and social care systems, aligned with one or more of the event themes. Submissions from low and middle-income country contexts are particularly encouraged. Relevant contributions may address evidence, policy, practice, innovation, education, regulation, implementation or evaluation that supports more inclusive, efficient, person-centred and technology-enabled health and social care systems.
Important dates:
Call for abstracts opens
30 June 2026
Extended Abstract submission deadline
25 September 2026
Notification of review outcome
9 November 2026
Deadline for accepted authors to register to confirm attendance
23 November 2026
Programme available online
January 2027
Important: Please read all of the below instructions before submitting your abstract
Themes
Abstracts are welcome in any one of the following categories:
Theme 1: Workforce optimization for high-value, responsive systems
This theme focuses on how health and care systems can better organize, support, and deploy their workforce to improve access, quality, outcomes and to achieve impact. It welcomes abstracts on service redesign, workforce models, skills mix, and digital health approaches that strengthen the delivery of support and care across settings and populations.
Subtheme 1.1: Service redesign and workforce models that improve access and outcomes
Examples:
- Systematic redesign of people‑centred pathways to deliver integrated and health and social care support pathways across the life course
- Using strategies such as population need analytics, demand forecasting, and service mapping to reduce fragmentation, and ensure continuity, and timely access across health system levels and services, supported by governance, commissioning levers, and workforce configurations that enable integrated end to end pathways
- Team-based and task-sharing models increasing reach in primary, acute, rehabilitation, long-term, and palliative care
- New models of support and care that results in integrated, community‑anchored, multidisciplinary, and digitally enabled models that shift support and care closer to home and improve reach for underserved groups
Subtheme 1.2: Leveraging digital health technologies for service delivery
Examples:
- Integration of digital technologies, including decision support tools, telehealth, digital twins, simulation, and immersive VR/AR/XR platforms, to strengthen service delivery, enhance workforce capability, and ensure continuity of care across settings
- Training in digital tools, including AI to improve quality and impact
- Scalable education and training models (simulation, online, hybrid) strengthening workforce capacity
Subtheme 1.3: Leadership and system-wide change for health workforce optimization
Examples:
- Implementation approaches scaling workforce and service innovations.
- Systematic evaluation and impact results of health and care workforce optimization and innovation initiatives
- Capacity building for managers and clinicians, facilitating their leadership of service redesign and transformation, including leveraging the use of digital health solutions
- Data-driven workforce deployment using real-time service and population need indicators
Theme 2: Strengthening access to assistive technology for participation, independence, and inclusion
This theme addresses the breadth of assistive technology, including quality assured, appropriate and affordable digital and non-digital assistive products and associated provision systems. Submissions are encouraged on the practical implementation of system strengthening activities addressing assistive technology policy, products, provision systems, personnel and people-centred approaches designed to ensure access for the diverse groups of assistive technology users, across the life course.
Subtheme 2.1: People-centred access, provision and workforce strategies
Examples:
- Awareness raising, accessible information, meaningful user engagement and co-design approaches that respond to access needs across the life course
- Provision models for assessment, fitting, training, referral, follow-up and repair across health, social and aged care, education, community and remote settings, including digitally enabled and innovative service delivery
- Workforce development approaches that strengthen assistive technology provision, including task sharing, workforce and competency mapping, competency-based training and formal recognition of assistive technology competencies
- Inclusion of assistive technology users and support networks in the design, delivery and continuity of services, including in humanitarian settings and emergencies
Subtheme 2.2: Sustainable assistive technology systems, markets and financing
Examples:
- National governance, data use, planning, priority setting, public and institutional policy reform and/or financing mechanisms that strengthen sustainable assistive technology systems and affordability
- Product selection, standards, specifications, priority assistive product lists, local production and quality assurance approaches that improve availability, quality and appropriateness
- Co-design and meaningful user involvement in product innovation, including approaches that improve usability, acceptability, safety, appropriateness and sustained use of assistive products
- Procurement, affordability, supply chain and market-shaping strategies that support sustainable and equitable access to quality-assured assistive products
Subtheme 2.3: Partnerships and enabling actions for scale-up
Examples:
- Regional and global actions that support country progress, including advocacy, normative guidance, technical cooperation, market shaping, research and shared learning
- Cross-sectoral partnerships and coordination mechanisms that connect health, social care, education, employment, industry, procurement, financing and emergency systems to strengthen assistive technology planning, provision and scale-up
- Cross-cutting priorities, including equity, early intervention, ageing, disability inclusion, digital technology, global reporting and context-responsive implementation including rural and remote, less resourced and humanitarian settings
This theme underscores disability inclusion as essential to fair, effective, and rights based health and social care systems. In line with the WHO World Report on Disability, it invites abstracts on reducing physical, communication, and digital barriers; advancing inclusive service and system design; and strengthening the meaningful participation of people with disabilities in workforce development, policy, and service improvement.
Subtheme 3.1: Inclusive health and care systems that reduce inequities
Examples:
- Inclusive pathways that ensure equitable access for people with disabilities across health, rehabilitation, assistive technology, social care, community and other essential services
- Removal of physical, communication, digital, attitudinal and procedural barriers in service access, navigation and delivery
- Co-designed and universally designed services, environments, information and technologies that improve relevance, access, uptake, quality and outcomes
Subtheme 3.2: Inclusive participation in health and social care workforce and service design
Examples:
- Inclusive employment pathways, reasonable accommodations and workplace supports for health and social care workers with disabilities
- Meaningful involvement and leadership of people with disabilities and representative organizations in health policy, education, research, workforce planning and service design
- Inclusive digital health, assistive technology and accessible information systems that support participation in care, work, education and community life
- Education, training and culture-change approaches that build disability confidence, inclusive practice and accountability across the health and social care workforce
Suitable submission types
Relevant and aligned to the above themes, submissions may include:
- Research studies, including quantitative, qualitative, mixed-methods, and evidence synthesis
- Policy, system and governance analyses including reform processes, financing, regulation or accountability approaches
- Implementation evaluations and practice-based evidence, including evaluations of quality improvement, service or workforce redesign, demonstration projects, scale up experiences and other real world implementation approaches
- National and sub-national case studies including context-specific examples of policy, programme, service, workforce, technology or system change
- Innovation and design work including technology, product, service or mode-of-care innovations with evidence of relevance, feasibility or impact
- Participatory, co-designed or lived-experience-informed work, including approaches led by or developed with, communities, service users, personnel or people with lived experience
- Technology, product, or service innovation with evidence of relevance or impact
Presentation type
An abstract can be submitted for presentation at the scientific conference as one of the following categories:
- Oral Presentation (10 Minutes)
- Oral Presentation (20 Minutes)
- Poster Presentation
At the review stage, the programme committee may change the presentation type submitted by the author to ensure the continuity of the scientific conference programme i.e. oral presentation may be changed to poster presentation OR poster presentation to oral presentation. The Presenting Author will be informed of any change to their submitted presentation type at the acceptance notification stage. The decision of the programme committee is final.
Oral format
Poster format
Accepted posters will be asked to produce a poster for display at the conference. Presenters are asked to take note of the following guidelines when producing their poster:
- Maximum poster size is A0 (0.84 x 1.19m) (portrait orientation)
- Keep text to a minimum
- Ensure any text is in large font
- Use graphs, charts, and/or tables
- Ensure contents have a logical flow
- Make it colourful
- Removal and collection of posters at the end of the display period remains the responsibility of the presenter. Posters not removed by the indicated take down time will be removed and disposed of
Abstract format
Abstracts should be submitted in English and written for an international, multidisciplinary audience. They should be concise, structured and clearly linked to one of the scientific conference subthemes, consistent with the event’s global focus on policy, practice, innovation and research.
Review criteria
Abstracts will be reviewed against the following criteria:
- Relevance to the aims and selected theme and subtheme
- Originality or innovation, of the work, approach or added value
- Clarity of purpose, methods or approach, findings, outcomes, impact or expected contribution
- Practical, policy or system relevance for workforce optimization and inclusive health systems
- Consideration for accessibility, equity, or universal design
- Quality of evidence, analysis, or implementation learning
- Abstracts based on work carried out in a low or middle-income country or less-resourced setting must include at least one co-author from that country or setting
Abstract publishing
Accepted abstracts will be published digitally by WHO. By submitting an abstract, the Presenting Author agrees to publication of the work by the WHO.
Previously presented or submitted abstracts
Abstracts that have been previously published or presented will be considered for presentation.
Submission process
The abstract submission process for the conference will be through an online submission portal
IMPORTANT INFORMATION ON THE SUBMISSION PROCESS
- The Presenting Author must submit the abstract and is required to be the corresponding author for that abstract.
- You do not need to register for the conference in order to submit the abstract.
- All abstracts must be received by the submission deadline to be included in the review.
- Accepted abstract presenters must register by 23 November 2026.
- Abstracts must be submitted in English.
Submission guidelines:
It is ESSENTIAL that you read the guidelines below before you submit. Abstracts which do not adhere to the guidelines will not be reviewed.
Who submits the abstract?
The Presenting Author must submit the abstract and will act as the main point of contact for the abstract with organizers.
Once you enter the online submission portal, start by creating an account. Please keep a record of the account details you use to set up the account as you will require them to log into both the abstract submission portal and registration portal. Upon successful submission of the abstract a confirmation email will be sent to the Presenting Author.
If you have not received a confirmation email, please check that your abstract is not left in draft and is fully submitted by logging back into the portal and checking on the View/Edit Abstracts page.
How to edit a submitted abstract?
Submission details required
The online abstract submission is a simple step-by-step process and will ask you to input the following details:
- Abstract title – word limit is 15
- Presentation type – Oral or Poster, Poster, Symposia or Workshop
- Theme – chosen from the theme list above
- Presenting Author – Name, affiliation, and job title of presenting author (this person must be listed as the first author)
- Co-Authors – Name, affiliation, and job title of co-author(s)
- Abstract document – Abstract word limit is 500, use abstract template (word limit includes: headings/reference; excludes: title, authors, affiliations and keywords)
- Additional information
- Area of Focus
- Young Researcher
- Publication Agreement
- Data Consent Agreement
- Alternative Contact for Abstract
Abstract template
Abstracts must be formatted using the Global Expo 2027: Transforming Health and Social Care Through Workforce Optimization, Digital Innovation, Assistive Technology and Disability Inclusion template. Download the template below to create the abstract and then save as a Word file to upload to the system. Only WORD files will be accepted for upload. Abstracts will not be edited, please ensure that all grammar and spelling is correct.
Review and notification of acceptance
All abstracts will go through a anonymous peer-review carried out by reviewers selected by the Global Expo 2027: Transforming Health and Social Care Through Workforce Optimization, Digital Innovation, Assistive Technology and Disability Inclusion Programme Committee.
Notification of acceptance or rejection will be sent to the submitter on 9 November 2026.
Withdrawal conditions & change of presenter
If you need to withdraw the abstract or change the Presenting Author contact the Global Expo 2027: Transforming Health and Social Care Through Workforce Optimization, Digital Innovation, Assistive Technology and Disability Inclusion by 23 November 2026.
Registration of the abstract presenter
When notified of acceptance, the Presenting Author is required to accept the offer by registering for the conference and paying in full by 23 November 2026. You will be provided with a link to register in your acceptance email.
If a presenter fails to register by 23 November 2026, the presentation:
- Will be removed from the programme
- Will be removed from all Global Expo 2027: Transforming Health and Social Care Through Workforce Optimization, Digital Innovation, Assistive Technology and Disability Inclusion related publications
Terms and conditions
- The abstract submitted adheres to the abstract submission guidelines outlined on the conference website
- The abstract submitted is in English
- This abstract has only been submitted once for the Global Expo 2027: Transforming Health and Social Care Through Workforce Optimization, Digital Innovation, Assistive Technology and Disability Inclusion
- It is the responsibility of the Presenting Author to submit the abstract. They are the main contact whose responsibility it is to communicate with other co-authors
- The Presenting Author is available to present at the conference between 24-25 February 2027
- The Presenting Author must register and pay in full by the deadline indicated in the abstract review outcome email. If they do not register and pay in full, the abstract will be removed from the programme and any associated publications
- The text of the abstract, along with the names and affiliations, poster and/or additional documents as requested, may be published on the conference website, in the abstract document and on the conference app, and this will not raise any copyright issues
- By submitting an abstract, the submitter agrees to publication of the work by the WHO
- A submission as a particular presentation type or theme may be changed to a different type following review in order to be accepted and included in the programme
- Presenters may be recorded for live streaming. A recording of the presentation and a copy of the slides may be published online after the conference
If you have any queries regarding the above, please contact: globalhealthexpo2027@conferencepartners.com
