ICCH 2026

Call for Abstracts is now open

ICCH 2026 welcomes abstracts focusing on communication in healthcare. Multiple presentation formats are available to showcase and share your work.

All abstracts must be submitted online using the electronic abstract portal. Please carefully proofread your abstract before submitting. Abstracts sent by post or email will not be accepted.

DATES TO REMEMBER

Abstracts close: midnight on Sunday 6th March 2026 (GMT)
Committee's decision advised: w/c Monday 11th May 2026
Presenting author registered by: 5.00pm on Sunday 2nd August 2026 (BST)

GENERAL GUIDELINES

All submissions must adhere to the following:

All submissions must be entered electronically via the submission site
Identifiable details of authors should only be present within the author section of the electronic submission form and should not be included in the title or body of the abstract to enable blind review
The abstract should be written in English
Single line spacing should be used throughout the document
Do not use all uppercase letters in the text or title, or when entering author names
Do not include a list of references in your abstract
To enable as many people as possible to participate at the conference, the limit of the number of oral presentations per presenter is a maximum of 2.

REVIEW PROCESS

Abstracts submitted to the ICCH conference are blind reviewed by experts in healthcare communication - teaching, research & policy.
The submitting author will be notified of the Committee’s decision the week commencing Monday 11th May 2026 by email to the same email address provided in their ICCH 2026 profile.
It is the author’s responsibility to ensure email addresses are current, updated, and that emails from the ICCH 2026 events team can reach them. Full presentation guidelines will be included in the acceptance email.
For all accepted abstracts, the lead author will be required to register for the conference by 5.00pm (GMT) on Sunday 2^nd August 2026. If the registration is not confirmed by that date, the abstract will be excluded from the conference programme.

ABSTRACT TYPES

During submission, you will be required to indicate the category you want to be considered for. You can click on the titles below for full submission information.

ICCH Pre-Conference Masterclass

Oral/Poster Presentation

Work in Progress (WIP)

Creative Healthcare Communication

Symposia

Workshops

Roundtable Discussions

An interactive session, intended to give practical tips, skills or strategies on a topical issue and suggestions for implementation in participants’ own context

Original research, teaching/ assessment or policy/process study related to communication in healthcare, completed with results to report

Discussions about projects that are still in progress that enables students, trainees, and junior faculty to get advice and insights on their approaches and work

The Creative Healthcare Communication session at ICCH use inventive, playful,

and artistic methods of health care communication

Symposia are sessions that feature 3-5 individual presentations that share a common theme or topic and allow in-depth examination and discussion of that topic.

Interactive workshops, where the participants engage in a structured and active learning experience in the field of communication teaching, assessment, research or policy making

Gatherings of individuals with similar interests and needs for sharing ideas and/or resources or to initiate or continue collaborative work (new or established groups welcome)

ICCH 2026 TOPICS

The following represents some of the key topical categories of work we anticipate will be presented at ICCH 2026. Please consider what topics best align with your abstract. If your abstract aligns with multiple topics, please select the one which fits best. Selecting the most suitable topic will ensure your submission is assigned to appropriate reviewers and placed in the most appropriate session for a successful presentation.

Teaching/assessment of learners in health professions	Assessing clinical communication skills Assessing communication education methods Teaching communication skills
Clinician/Health care professional-patient interactions	Sharing medical information Gathering information / clinical reasoning Language clarity and comprehension Communication about risk and uncertainty Patients expressing emotions / cues and concerns Responding to patient emotions / empathy Patient and person-centred communication Triadic communication Non-verbal communication Patient and caregiver evaluation of care Communication with potentially vulnerable groups (eg. age, culture, gender, race etc) Breaking bad news on different levels (ie. not life-threatening but diminished functional recovery)
Shared decision making &involvement of patients and caregivers	Concept and measurement Occurrence, determinants, outcomes Decision support / tools Training Caregiver involvement & perspective Patient education/self-management Patient empowerment
Intervention research	Intervention development Intervention testing Implementation / de-implementation research
Health policy	Evidence-based policy development Organizational change and change management Development and validation of measurement instruments Innovative research methodologies Review methodology (realistic, scoping, etc.) in communication research
Health literacy	Concept and measurement Occurrence, determinants, outcomes Interventions, tools and training
Health Equity & Health Disparities	Health equity, health disparities (incl. inclusion health) Language discordant care & Interpreters Cross-cultural communication Communication with underserved populations Advocacy group / community engagement
Mediated health communication (eHealth) / communication technology	Health communication technology assessment Electronic medical records & online portals Telemedicine (incl. e-consultations) Social media & Internet Artificial intelligence Digital security and cyber security in healthcare communication
Specific topics in healthcare communication	Health promotion/prevention Chronic illness and multi-morbidity Palliative/end of life care Ethics Professionalism and attitude Communication during pandemics Population-level communication Misinformation/Disinformation Quality improvement and patient safety Strategies for crisis and disaster communication (beyond pandemics) Sustainability/planetary health and risk communication Communication for neurodivergent patients (assistive technologies)
Inter-professional communication	Inter-/intra-disciplinary communication Communication Models Interprofessional communication in global and cross-border collaborations

For full guidelines on each category, please click the link before and read carefully before submitting your abstract

Submission Guidelines Document

To submit your abstract, please click the link below

Submit Abstract

If you are experiencing problems submitting your abstract, please do not hesitate to contact the ICCH 2026 events team by emailing events@fitwise.co.uk or by calling 01506 292042.

ORGANISED BY