Conference Synopsis:

In an era of rapidly evolving demographics, technologies, workforce shifts and global health threats, the delivery of health care is under unprecedented pressure — and unprecedented opportunity. Health systems everywhere wrestle with ageing populations, rising chronic disease burdens, escalating costs, workforce fatigue and shortages, digital & data transformation, equity and access gaps, climate change, pandemics and the burgeoning promise (and peril) of artificial intelligence and genomics.

By 2027, we expect these pressures to intensify and intersect in new ways: models of care must shift from acute, episodic treatment to proactive, integrated, community-based, data-driven, patient-centred structures. Attention must be paid not just to what care is delivered, but how, where, by whom, and under what system of values.

This conference invites health care workers, educators, clinicians, policymakers, innovators and system leaders to explore the key issues shaping care delivery today — and to peer beyond the horizon to what is coming next. We’ll challenge the status quo, interrogate assumptions, highlight evidence, and practise pragmatic strategies. The aim is less “fluffy vision” and more “what works now, and what we must be ready for”.

Learning outcomes:

By the end of this Conference, participants will be able to:

• Analyse major current and emerging drivers of change in health care delivery (e.g., demographic shifts, workforce dynamics, digital/AI, cost pressures, equity) and understand their implications for health care delivery, education and leadership.
• Evaluate new models of care and organisational responses that are being developed or trialled, including community-based, virtual/telehealth, integrated care, and how nurses and other health care workers can lead or adapt within them.
• Apply frameworks and strategies for building resilience in health services — across workforce wellbeing, health system shocks (pandemics, climate events), and digital
  threats (cybersecurity, data governance) — to their own local context.
• Design or propose an initiative, practice improvement or policy change relevant to their setting that responds to one or more of these key issues (e.g., harnessing AI ethically in practice; redesigning care for older adults; strengthening inter-professional collaboration; addressing health inequities).

CALL FOR ABSTRACTS:

We invite submissions from clinicians, educators, researchers and health leaders who can offer fresh, evidence-informed perspectives or practice-based insights. Abstracts addressing one of the conference themes may present:

• Original research, program evaluations, or innovations in care delivery
• Case studies highlighting lessons learned or best practice
• Policy or system reforms with practical implications
• Educational strategies and inter-professional initiatives

Conference Themes to Consider:

Demographics, Chronic Disease & Ageing Populations

• The shifting burden: non-communicable diseases, multi-morbidities, geriatric complexity.
• Workforce implications: fewer working-age carers, more dependent older people.
• Designing care models for ageing in place, community vs institutional care.
• Health promotion, prevention and self-management in a chronically ill population.

Workforce, Wellbeing & Professional Practice

• Recruitment, retention, burnout and the evolving nursing role.
• New roles, advanced practice, substitution and inter-professional teams.
• Digital health literacy, competency development, lifelong learning.
• Boundaries, ethics and professionalism in new models of care (telehealth, AI, remote work).

Digital, Data, AI & Technology in Care Delivery

• Telehealth, remote monitoring, wearables and home-based care.
• Artificial intelligence, algorithm bias, ethics of machine-augmented care.
• Data interoperability, cybersecurity, digital resilience.
• Human + machine: what does health care delivery mean in a digitally-augmented future?

Equity, Access & Social Determinants of Health

• Health disparities by geography (rural/remote), socioeconomic status, and ethnicity.
• Addressing social determinants in the era of constrained resources.
• Cultural safety, inclusive care design, community participation in service planning.
• Global perspectives and lessons for Australia (and vice versa).

Sustainability, Cost Pressures & Value-Based Care

• Economic pressures: rising costs, inflation, constrained budgets.
• Value-based health care, outcomes measurement, service redesign.
• Environmental sustainability in health care delivery: climate change impacts, resource use, resilient infrastructure.
• Innovation vs waste: how to adopt selectively and responsibly.

System Resilience, Crisis Preparedness & Emerging Threats

• Lessons from pandemics (e.g., COVID 19) and other health shocks.
• Climate change, natural disasters, supply-chain disruption, cyber threats inside health care.
• Building agile systems: rapid response, adaptability, learning health systems.
•  Leadership and change-management in high-stress, uncertain contexts.

Patient Experience, Consumerism & Care Models of the Future

• The empowered patient/consumer: expectations of convenience, access, digital engagement.
• Co-design, shared decision-making, personalised medicine/genomics.
• Shifting places of care: home, community, remote, hospital.
• Measuring what matters: patient-reported outcomes, experience metrics, real-world evidence.

For abstract submission details click here.

CPD Hours: 24