The Annual Conference on Assessment Initiative, sponsored by CDC, will be held August 18--20, 2008, in Atlanta, Georgia. This meeting will focus on sharing information on innovative systems and methods that improve the way data are used in public health programs, services, and policies at the local and state levels. Sessions will address data dissemination, health assessment research, applied data analysis, presentation techniques, and community health-assessment processes and outcomes.
Participants will include staff members from local and state health departments, federal agencies, and community organizations interested in the collection, analysis, and dissemination of data for community health assessments. Conference attendees can register online at http://www.ppleventreg.com/events/HHS/index.php?id=19; the deadline for online registration is August 4, and no registration fee is charged. The deadline for making reservations with the Sheraton Atlanta Hotel is July 14 (at the conference web site or by telephone)
Abstracts for the poster session are due by July 18 and should be e-mailed to Nelson Adekoya at nba7@cdc.gov. Abstracts should be a maximum of 250 words and clearly state the purpose of the poster. Topics of interest include approaches to assessment, impact and outcome of community health assessment, systems and approaches used for data dissemination, community partnerships, and statistical methods used in assessment. A maximum of 40 abstracts will be accepted, and applicants will be notified of acceptance by August 1. Additional information regarding the Assessment Initiative is available at http://www.cdc.gov/ncphi/od/ai