CALL FOR ABSTRACTS

Your Health Space invites you to submit an abstract for presentation at our 2026 in-person conference, Sharing Impact: Advancing Workplace Wellness in Health Care, taking place October 27–28, 2026 in downtown Toronto.

Building on the success of our sold-out inaugural symposium in April 2025, this year’s conference expands the focus beyond leaders alone. Workplace wellness is a shared responsibility. Your Health Space invites health care workers, leaders, researchers, system partners, policymakers, and innovators from across Ontario’s Health Care sector to share strategies, lessons learned, and tangible examples of how organizations are advancing psychologically healthy, high-performing workplace cultures.

Held during Canada’s Healthy Workplace Month, the conference will explore how sustained investments in workforce well-being and organizational practices can:

  •  Address chronic workplace stress

  •  Support recruitment and retention

  •  Mitigate risk and system pressures

  •  Strengthen organizational and system performance

  •  Drive measurable, lasting change

Through presentations, panels, workshops, and interactive sessions, participants will exchange practical tools and insights that can be translated directly into action within their own organizations.

THEME CATEGORIES
Groups or individuals interested in presenting are invited to submit abstracts aligned with one or more of the following themes:

1. Cultures of Care

  • Psychosocial risk factors and occupational hazards affecting health care workers and leaders, including promising practices to mitigate risk and strengthen workforce sustainability

  • Healthy workplace practices and organizational interventions that drive meaningful culture change and support workforce well-being. Safe workplace practices, including fostering psychological safety and respectful team dynamics that support trust, inclusion, and safe reporting practices.

  • Physician wellness, including the unique clinical, cultural and leadership pressures experienced within medical roles and strategies to address them.

  • Evidence based strategies that support engagement and help foster positive workplace cultures.

2. Recruitment, Retention & Risk Management

  • Recruitment strategies that position workplace wellness as a competitive advantage for attracting health care workers and leaders.

  • Retention strategies that reduce turnover and support long-term career sustainability across roles, including clinical, administrative, and   leadership positions.

  • Short-Term Disability (STD) trends, prevention strategies, and organizational responses to stress-related leave.

  • Long-Term Disability (LTD) implications of chronic workplace stress and approaches to mitigation and return to work success.

  • WSIB and other risk management considerations, including legal, financial and operational impacts of workplace stress.

  • The broader organizational implications of stress, burnout and moral distress on workforce stability and leadership continuity.

3. Change Management

  • Promising practices that leaders in navigating uncertainty, decision-making pressures and organizational accountability.

  • Supporting staff through restructuring, policy change, mergers or sector transformation.

  • Navigating system change, including reforms, funding shifts and evolving Health Human Resource realities.

  • Embedding wellness principles into change initiatives to reduce stress and resistance across teams.

  • Understanding and utilizing the neuroscience behind change management.

4. Equity, Diversity, Inclusion, Accessibility & Anti-Racism (EDIAA)

  • Embedding EDIAA principles into organizational culture, policies, and leadership decision-making.

  • Belonging in the workplace, including strategies that strengthen connection across disciplines and hierarchies.

  • Addressing systemic barriers impacting equity-deservingi health care workers and emerging leaders.

  • Community-building approaches that foster inclusion for both frontline staff and leaders.

5. Psychological Health & Safety (PH&S) Implementation

  • Implementation of the Natoinal Standard for Psychological Health and Safety, including practical tools, effective approaches, and lessons learned.

  • Success and challenges in embedding PH&S into daily operations, policy and procedures across departments and leadership levels.

  • Accreditation-related stress management, including preparing for reviews while supporting workforce well-being.

  • Measuring outcomes, sustaining momentum, and demonstrating impact at both staff and organizational levels.

6. Other

  • Data informed decision-making related to workforce mental health and retention.

  • Artificial intelligence applications that support health care staff and leadership capacity.

  • Innovative research advancing workplace wellness across the health system.

PRESENTATION FORMATS
Please choose your preferred presentation format:

Concurrent Session
(e.g., information sharing, case study presentation, workshop, panel discussion)

Poster Presentation
(Display space for posters will be offered.)
Presentation time slots for concurrent sessions will be 60 minutes in length.

SUBMISSION DETAILS
Abstract Submission Deadline: April 17, 2026

 

Submitters will be notified of their submission status in late April 2026.


All submissions will be evaluated using the following criteria:
• Relevance to the conference theme
• Clarity and coherence of submission
• Relevance and value to participants
• Evidence that the submission will encourage interaction among conference participants
• Clear learning objectives and actionable insights

ACCEPTANCE AS A PRESENTER
Key dates and details for presenters will be provided following notification of acceptance.
Presenters must be paid registrants of the conference.
Presenters will be asked to submit an electronic version of their presentation.
Presentation time slots will be 60 minutes in length.
Presenters will be assigned a presentation time by the conference committee.

For further information, please contact:
Sherry Sim
Event Manager
sherry@innovative4you.com
1-866-655-8548

ABOUT YOUR HEALTH SPACE
Developed and delivered by the Canadian Mental Health Association (CMHA), Ontario Division, and funded by Ontario’s Ministry of Health, Your Health Space (YHS) has supported health care workplaces across the province since 2022. The program is offered at no cost to health care organizations and aims to strengthen workforce mental health, psychological health and safety as well as retention across Ontario’s health system.


Since launching, YHS has trained over 100,000 participants, including 35,000+ participants in 2025–2026 alone, delivering more than 1,000 trainings in that fiscal year. Participant feedback continues to demonstrate strong impact, with high satisfaction, confidence in applying learning, and reported improvements in mental health awareness, coping skills, boundary-setting and team support.

About You

Please provide presenter names as you would like them to appear in the conference program:
Presenter Name(s):

Title/Occupation:

Organization:

Phone:

Email:
Is there an alternate contact person (example: an assistant)?
Name:

Email:

Phone:
Preferred Presentation

Please note: Based on the number of presentations we receive, we may have to combine presentations. If your abstract is not accepted, you may have an opportunity to present a poster presentation.
Your preferred presentation duration is:
Conference Streams

Please note: The presenter may submit multiple abstracts for the conference. One submission for each presentation.
Please choose the stream that your that relates to your submission:
Other Please specify:
Your Submission

The presenter may submit multiple abstracts for the conference. One submission for each presentation. If your abstract is accepted, we will reach out for your full abstract and your AV/Tech needs.
Title of your Presentation: (no more than 10 words) (Required)

Description of your concurrent session/poster: (150 words or less) Required

Please provide 1-3 learning outcomes for your concurrent session

How does your submission relate to your selected stream? (150 words or less)

It is important for all concurrent sessions to be interactive and encourage participation among attendees. Please explain how your session will be interactive, giving concrete examples (150 words or less). Not applicable to posters.

What is your call to actions for participants?

Presenter 1 Name and Biography (50-60 words or less)

Presenter 1 Email:

Presenter 2 Name and Biography (50-60 words or less)

Presenter #2 Email:

Presenter 3 Name and Biography (50-60 words or less)

Presenter 3 Email:

Presenter 4 Name and Biography (40-50 words or less)

Presenter 4 Email:
Presenter Acknowledgement
I understand that if my proposal is accepted, I am required to register for the event in order to present.

I confirm that the information provided in this submission is accurate and that all co-presenters have agreed to participate

I agree that the presentation title, abstract, and presenter names may be used in conference materials and promotional content if the proposal is accepted.

I understand that presentation dates and times will be assigned by the conference organizers.


A pop up screen will confirm your submission.  We will be in touch with final results by the end of April.
Any questions, please contact Sherry Sim, Event Manager at 1-866-655-8548 or sherry@innovative4you.com