Commercial Determinants of Health:

Moving from Harmful to Healthy

November 18th and 19th, 2024

Sutton Place Hotel, 845 Burrard Street, Vancouver

All sessions are in person. Register now.

Online Abstract Submission: Opens Tuesday, September 17th, 2024

Submission Deadline: Friday, October 11th, 2024 at 5:00pm

All successful abstract submissions will have access to a discounted conference registration rate.

The Public Health Association of British Columbia, in collaboration with the National Collaborating Centre for Determinants of Health, is excited to introduce this year’s conference, focusing on the Commercial Determinants of Health (CDoH). Inspired by the World Health Organization’s (WHO) ongoing work on the global report addressing CDoH (linked here), this conference will examine how commercial entities, financial systems, and governments shape public and population health outcomes.

Public health has a societal role in providing information on how commercial priorities, profit motives, and the market-based allocation of resources contribute to social and health inequities. This influence extends across many areas of policy, including, but not limited to: environmental sustainability, health care systems, education, housing, child care, and care for the elderly. Public health must be part of the conversation about alternative means of resource allocation, where distribution based on need replaces distribution based on ability to pay—especially in areas critical to fostering a healthy, joyful, and loving society.

Conference attendees will gain a comprehensive understanding of CDoH, exploring the roles key industries play in influencing health behaviors, government policies, and societal values. Through a critical analysis of corporate practices across sectors—including food systems, the tech industry, and extractive industries (eg. fossil fuels, mining, forestry & fisheries), as well as industries traditionally associated with public health harm, such as tobacco, alcohol, and highly processed foods —the event will explore both the positive and negative ways legislation can mitigate health risks posed by commercial activities. It will also examine how certain groups are disproportionately affected due to the intersections of health, equity, and power structures. The conference will highlight successful public health interventions, such as efforts to phase out fossil fuel use and reduce greenhouse gas emissions to net zero, along with examples of organizations leading by example in their industries.

Beyond environmental concerns, the conference will emphasize the broader implications of CDoH, including how public health can intersect with economic systems to foster a healthier, well-being-centered society. Attendees will explore strategies to support and encourage businesses that are working towards planetary health and equitable human well-being, helping to shape a more sustainable and just future. This event provides an essential opportunity for public health professionals, policymakers, and advocates to engage with experts, share strategies, and collaborate on solutions to today’s most pressing public health challenges.

Purpose

To bring together public health and other related professionals to examine the roles key industries play in influencing health behaviors and outcomes. Through critical analysis of corporate strategies like marketing, lobbying, and product development, participants will explore both the positive and negative impacts on public health. The conference will also highlight successful public health interventions, such as campaigns to ban fossil fuels, offering practical insights into mitigating commercial risks.

Objectives

Learning Objectives:

Develop a Comprehensive Understanding of Commercial Determinants of Health (CDoH)

- Define and explain the concept of CDoH, and identify key industries and commercial practices (e.g., tobacco, alcohol, ultra-processed foods, fossil fuels) that impact public health.

Analyze Public Health’s Role in addressing CDoH

- Critically examine how strategies by commercial actors, including marketing, lobbying, and product development, shape health behaviors and outcomes, highlighting both positive and negative effects.
- Examine core competencies for Public Health as they relate to the CDoH

Learn from Successful Interventions Against Harmful Commercial Practices

- Explore case studies and stories of successful interventions that have effectively mitigated commercial risks to public health.

Develop Strategies for Strength-Based Harm Prevention

- Address the identification and prevention of health harms caused by commercial activities, emphasizing the use of strengths-based language and approaches in public health interventions.

Provide exemplars of commercial activities generating wellbeing economies.

Operational Objectives:

Encourage participants, including intersectoral partners, to apply new knowledge, skills and/or resources in their activities during and following the conference.
Attract people working in related sectors as participants in the conference.
Facilitate a knowledge exchange between PHABC members, non-members, government officials, health authority representatives, etc.

Conference Themes

To invigorate public health practice, education and research towards a healthy, just and sustainable future. The conference plenary sessions will focus on four inter-related themes:

Taking Action on Industries That Affect Health: Marketing, Risks, and Essential Goods
Building Public Sector Strength: Considering regulatory and functional opportunities
Improving Business Practices: Creating Policies for Healthier Markets
Rethinking Economic Development: Sustainable Approaches and Cultural Perspectives

These themes can be applied to a range of issues (ie. Planetary health, digital equity, etc).

If you have research on or are part of a promising practice you think aligns with our conference themes, we welcome your contribution to our dialogue. The conference organizers request that you submit abstracts that align with one or more of the four themes of the conference; however, additional themes may also be identified from the selected abstracts.

We encourage submissions from the full spectrum of public health practice and endeavor to be inclusive of quality submissions even if they do not fit under the above thematic areas.

Conference Format

The conference will include:

Plenary sessions to stimulate thinking about the conference theme
Workshops to build skills and strategies
Oral presentations to present findings related to the conference themes in parallel sessions
Poster presentations to present findings related to the conference themes

Call for Abstracts

Individuals and groups are invited to submit abstracts for one or more of the following presentation format(s):

Oral presentation (15-20 minutes)
Poster presentations (in-person “walk about” during poster session & on display both days)
Workshop (1.5 hours)

Based on the restricted opportunities for oral presentations, we strongly encourage applicants to consider structuring their proposals, particularly if they are practice-based research, around a poster presentation. The poster session will be held at the end of the first day on the conference on November 21st and will be designed as a ‘walk-about’ in order to structure maximum interaction with the presenters and their work.

Workshops are intended to be an interactive opportunity to focus on a particular topic related to the conference themes in detail and/or to build skills or resources in relation to the theme.

Abstract Submission Guidelines

Those submitting abstracts will be required to submit the following information:

Presenter & co-presenter(s) professional designations & contact information
Presentation format & conference theme(s)
Presentation title
An abstract of 250 words or less

Please note that the information provided in the abstract submission will be used to describe your presentation in the final program should your abstract be selected. Please ensure your description is accurate, fully proof-read and all presenters are listed.

If your abstract describes primary or secondary research, you are encouraged to submit an abstract covering: background, methods, results and discussion/conclusions.

Those submitting practice-based abstracts are encouraged to include information on: Purpose, focus/content, significance for the theme and target audience.

Evaluation Criteria

Due to limited space and the need for the most relevant and highest quality program, the Scientific Program Committee (SPC) has outlined several criteria by which the quality and relevance of abstracts will be judged.

Each abstract will be scored out of a total possible 7 points, each category listed below will be given a score between 0 and 1 and each score added together for the final score. The descriptions below represent a score of 1 (full marks) for that category:

Asset & Strength Based: The approach is explicitly focused on reservoirs of strength and resilience, even in the most disadvantaged communities, as ‘assets’ for health, including geography (rural/remote/Indigenous/innercity)
Equity: The abstract demonstrates meaningful inclusion of Indigenous or equity-deserving groups or highlights grassroots initiatives, reflecting a commitment to diversity, equity, and community-driven approaches.
Solution/Action-Oriented: Actions and solutions are evidence-informed, population level interventions & focused on the big-picture, instead of on immediate
Partnerships & Multi-Sectoral Collaboration: Collaboration is focused on partnerships with various stakeholders, mediators & facilitators of change, focused on collective impact and the inclusion of affected
Innovation & Practical Application: The abstract presents innovative concepts, methodologies, or solutions within the subtheme, with a clear focus on practical application or actionable takeaways
Engaging & Experiential: Participatory and experiential focus is strong, effective and woven throughout
Relevance to Conference: Highly relevant to conference topic, themes & objectives.
Quality: The abstract is well-organized, coherent, and effectively communicated, displaying clarity, conciseness, and a strong command of the subject matter.