CALL FOR ABSTRACTS
Deadline: September 2, 2025 | 11:59 PM ET

Crossroads of Innovation: Shaping the Future of Practice and Education

The National Academies of Practice (NAP) invites you to submit abstracts for educational sessions at the 2026 NAP Annual Meeting and Forum, which seeks to promote collaboration across and among individuals engaged in interprofessional practice within clinical, educational, scholarship, research, and/or policy settings. More information about NAP and the Forum, including Forum outcomes, can be found on the NAP website as it becomes available. NAP membership is not a requirement for abstract submission.

The Forum is designed to empower individuals and collaborative teams, with emphasis on the following four themes: Collaboration, Patient-Centeredness, Inclusivity, and Interconnectedness.

The four themes of the 2026 Annual Meeting and Forum reflect the four core values of NAP. These serve as the central tenets for everything NAP does as an interprofessional organization representing multiple health professions.

 

Themes

Collaboration: In order to fulfill NAP’s vision and mission we foster a work ethic of interprofessional collaboration that is based upon learning with, from and about NAP members of all academies. We advocate and advance similar collaborative health care and education models.

Hypothetical titles/descriptions include but are not limited to:

• Bridging Disciplines: Building a Culture of Learning and Practice through Collaboration- directly reflects NAP’s core values and emphasizes the educational and cultural aspects of collaboration
• From Silos to Systems: Collaboration in Action-practical focus on dismantling barriers, with emphasis on shared decision-making and co-leadership
• An Interprofessional Sepsis Response Simulation: Nursing, Pharmacy & Respiratory Therapy Roles-practice-based example of impact of collaboration in a clinical setting
• Co‐Creating a Community Health Fair with Nursing, PT & Dietetics Students-demonstrates collaboration in community engagement and education, with a student-centered, interprofessional approach
• Collaborative Synergy: Advancing Health Through Unified Voices-emphasis on case studies, pilot programs, or research that demonstrate measurable improvements through collaborative efforts

Patient-Centeredness: Optimal health care is patient centered. Public policy, scholarships, and healthcare practice must be patient-centric, and in the best interest, and inclusive of individuals, families, and communities. NAP supports its members in developing and disseminating best practice models, public policies and scholarships that enhance interprofessional collaborative care for all individuals.

Hypothetical titles/descriptions include but are not limited to:

• Centering the Client/Patient: Approaches to Inclusive Care-foundational example that directly addresses the theme and emphasizes person-centered care through models that integrate client/patient feedback, culturally responsive practices, and strategies for co-designing care with clients/patients
• Humanizing Healthcare: Policies and Practices that Put People First-focus on public policy, scholarship, and clinical innovations that elevate person-centered care and how interprofessional teams advocate for care that reflects real client and patient experiences
• The Client/Patient as Educator: Co-Designing Interprofessional Curricula with Lived Experience-example of clients/patients shaping education and reinforces the idea that person-centeredness starts with listening and learning from those we serve
• Using Patient-Reported Outcome Dashboards to Guide Post-Stroke Rehab Decisions-data-driven, clinical example of how patient input directly informs care decisions
• Developing Palliative Care Pathways in Partnership with Patients and Family Caregivers-highlights collaboration in emotionally complex care settings and how interprofessional teams create compassionate care 

Inclusivity: NAP embraces diversity, equity, and inclusion throughout the organization for our members and the stakeholders we advocate for and serve. We strive to support the development and implementation of models that ensure appropriate and equitable health care for all. We value and promote the contributions of all our diverse constituent members

Hypothetical titles/descriptions include but are not limited to:

• Equity in Action: Models for Inclusive Care-highlights interprofessional efforts to reduce disparities and promote equitable care through culturally responsive models and policy advocacy efforts to ensure access and fairness in delivery of care
• Voices at the Table: Elevating Diverse Perspectives in Collaborative Practice-focuses on inclusive leadership development and team dynamics, ensuring that underrepresented voices are heard and valued in decision-making
• Interprofessional Strategies to Reduce Racial Disparities in Maternal Health Outcomes-real-world example of collaboration to address systemic inequities and measure impact in a critical area of health
• Adapting Health Literacy Materials for Neurodiverse and Sensory-Impaired Clients-highlights accessibility and inclusion for often-overlooked populations and a person-centered design in communication
• Intersectionality in Action: A Framework for Inclusive Interprofessional Practice-provides a conceptual and practical framework for understanding how overlapping identities affect care and to consider the full spectrum of diversity

Interconnectedness: We foster connections within and between academies and among members of all groups. We support and target initiatives that are designed to maximize these interprofessional interconnections to advance patient/client-centered public policies, scholarship and interprofessional collaborative care. Our collective, interconnected experience, education and wisdom will take us further together than individually.

 Hypothetical titles/descriptions include but are not limited to:

• Stronger Together: Advancing Health Through Interprofessional Connections-highlights how connections across professions and communities impact and enhance collaborative care, scholarship, and public policy
• Weaving Wisdom: Interprofessional Networks Driving Change-emphasizes the value of shared knowledge and mentorship across professions and how these collaborations can contribute to innovative solutions in client/patient care, advocacy efforts, and interprofessional education
• Establishing a Regional Opioid Crisis Network: Linking Academies, Clinicians & Community Partners-real-world example of cross-sector collaboration addressing a critical public health issue
• Shared Data Platforms to Connect Rural Clinics with Academic Medical Centers-highlights how technology and data-sharing can bridge geographic and institutional divides to improve patient and client outcomes and access to care
• Learning Across Borders: A Cross-Academy Introduction to Team-Based Care-global and cross-academy collaboration in education to reinforce the idea that interconnected learning environments prepare professionals for collaborative practice

 

The presentation titles above are provided for illustrative purposes only. They are intended as examples to inspire or guide topic development. Any resemblance to actual presentation titles/descriptions, past or present, is purely coincidental and unintentional.

 

 Selection Criteria

• Interprofessional collaboration reflected in authorship (at least 2 disciplines and/or professions).
  • All disciplines and/or professions must be clearly identified.
• Relevance/significance of the topic to one or more of the Forum themes (see above).
• Clarity of purpose and specific, measurable, learning objectives required for each type of educational session.
• Appropriate presentation and engagement methods for the type of session selected by presenters.
• Fair, inclusive, and comprehensive representation of findings, including lessons learned, potential contributions and/or recommendations for education, scholarship, research, practice, and/or public policy.
• Contemporary contribution to a new or existing body of knowledge.
• Evidence of a collaborative and novel approach. Examples include (but are not limited to):
  • Ongoing or completed research among an interdisciplinary team of investigators.
  • Educational models, courses, and/or offerings that focus on multiple disciplines in a collaborative environment.
  • Development or implementation of practice models that involve cooperation among healthcare disciplines.
  • Healthcare policy that addresses issues surrounding collaborative practice, education, or research.

 

Authors of selected presentations are encouraged to submit a longer paper for publication in NAP’s online Journal of Interprofessional Education and Practice.

Educational Session Types

• Lightning Talks will be 20 minutes followed by 10 minutes for participant Q&A or other engagement.
• Roundtable presentations will be 60 minutes. A roundtable submission addresses an area or issue of fundamental importance to various fields, in a format that encourages active discussion of different perspectives.
• Workshops can be 60 or 90 minutes. These are interactive sessions whereby presenters will introduce a topic and create active learning opportunities for attendees; topics are often primarily pedagogical and intended to offer training.
• Posters will have two session opportunities. A poster is a presentation of information or research, increasing the possibilities for presenters to communicate ideas or research findings in exciting and dynamic forms.

 

Submission Guidelines

Abstracts must be free of commercial bias or promotion, and each applicable section (background/rationale, methods/methodology, results/findings/lessons learned, conclusions/implications, facilitation methods) should be no more than 300 words each unless otherwise indicated. Please enter this information exactly as you would like it to appear in the program materials.

 

Abstract submissions should include the following elements:

• Clear and concise presentation title (10-word maximum)
• Identify the theme of your proposed session
• Identify the educational session type
• Identify the primary focus of your proposed session: education, practice, policy, or research
• Session description (150-word limit)
• Measurable learning objectives
• Background/rationale
• Methods/methodology (as appropriate for the selected session type)
• Results/findings/lessons learned
• Conclusions/implications
• Facilitation methods (only applicable for roundtables and workshops)
• Three (3) contemporary peer-reviewed references from the past 10 years which support your content (not applicable for posters)
• Brief statement of session relevance for participants

The following information should be submitted for each presenting and contributing author. Please note that any author that has influence over the content must be included for continuing education purposes.

• Full name
• Organization/institution
• Educational/occupational credentials
• Profession/discipline/academy
• Position title
• Email address
• Mailing address
• Identify the presenting/contributing authors
• Identify the primary author to serve as the contact person who will share information with their co-author(s)
• Narrative biography (150-word limit; PDF format)
• Resume/CV (PDF format)
• Financial and non-financial disclosures

Please Note:

• September 2, 2025 at 11:59 PM ET is a firm deadline and will not be extended.
• NAP membership is not a requirement for abstract submission.
• NAP strives to conduct a fair review process by utilizing a double-blind approach to limit biases.
• All presenting authors must be committed and responsive to working with NAP by adhering to any shared deadlines.
• All presenting authors will be required to register for and attend the Forum. They are responsible for their own travel, accommodation, and registration expenses.
• Notifications will be sent to the primary author for each abstract submission in November 2025.

 

If you have questions about the submission process, please contact NAP Project Coordinator, Kayla Fuller, at kfuller@amrms.com.