The National Institute for Medical Respite Care (NIMRC), a special program of the National Health Care for the Homeless Council (NHCHC), hosts the inaugural California Recuperative Care Symposium, September 12-13, 2024, at the Hilton Arden West in Sacramento, California.

Recuperative Care, also known as Medical Respite Care, is becoming nationally recognized as a bridge between homelessness and interim housing. With the introduction of CalAIM in 2022, Recuperative Care programs are developing across California at an astounding rate. Embracing the theme, Cross-Organizational Solutions for a Seamless System of Care, NIMRC elevates the growing practice of Recuperative Care as an integral component of our mission to build an equitable, high-quality health care system. We are excited to showcase many of these promising practices, models, and examples of leadership at this groundbreaking event.

NIMRC is particularly interested in proposals that address the following topics:

• Innovation & Technology
• Collaborative solutions between organizations
• CalAIM
• Policy
• Peer support
• Hospice care
• ADL support
• Older adult homelessness
• Behavioral health interventions
• Rural recuperative care
• Serving families in recuperative care
• Pathways to housing
• Building community
• Proposals that include people with lived experience and/or people from historically oppressed cultures.

75-Minute Lecture Presentation

This format is comprised of a 45-minute lecture presentation and a 30-minute audience discussion period. The presentation should describe a project, program, promising practice, or an innovative tool or approach to a topic. Presenters submitting proposals for this type of session are encouraged to include slide presentations, brief videos, handout materials, group exercises, and/or focused discussions on a particular topic. Maximum two (2) presenters.

150-Minute Interactive Workshop

This format includes two sessions of 75-minutes each with a 15-minute break in between. An interactive workshop is designed to promote the exchange of ideas, group discussion, and cross-organizational collaboration. It should provide an in-depth exploration of a program innovation, emerging issue, finding from a research project, policy change(s), or a quality improvement initiative. Workshops must include one part presentation and one-part interactive exercise/activity among participants. Workshops are encouraged to include slide presentations, brief videos, and/or handout materials. Creative formats outside of traditional lecture/Q&A patterns are encouraged. Maximum three (3) presenters.

• Please submit only one proposal per form.
• Up to three proposal submissions per organization can be considered.
• The proposal summary should be 300 words or less.
• No demonstration or endorsement of commercial products is permissible.
• Valuing the input of those with lived experience, we strongly encourage submissions that include consumers in the development and/or delivery of the presentation.
• You do not need to have any previous affiliation or connection to NIMRC or the Council to submit a proposal.
• Submissions demonstrating the use of JEDI (Justice, Equity, Diversity and Inclusion) principles are encouraged. Ways to promote JEDI principles within a subject area include:
  • Apply the use of multiple & diverse perspectives across various marginalized identities as a catalyst for equitable change.
  • Illustrate an impact that supports a health equity outcome.
  • Show a self-reflection process that assesses if your internal organizational practices are complicit or contributing to inequities.
  • Illustrate action that address individual, institutional, structural, or systemic marginalization that contributes to an inequity for patients or staff.

The deadline for submissions is April 10th at midnight Pacific Standard Time (PST).

• Accepted proposals will receive notification by April 25^th, 2024.
• Presenter(s) will be expected to participate in a 30-minute Zoom meeting with Symposium organizers during the month of August 2024 to review the presentation’s content, structure and progress.
• NIMRC reserves the right to recommend modifications to the focus, content or format of a proposal to meet the criteria and the needs of the Symposium program.
• NIMRC is not responsible for travel, hotel accommodations, meals not provided at the Symposium, or any other expense related to attending the Symposium.
• Fees for presentations are not available.
• If your proposal is accepted, the presenter(s) MUST register for the Symposium by the registration deadline, August 22, 2024. Registration discount codes will be provided for up to three (3) presenters per accepted proposal.

Submissions will be reviewed by NIMRC staff utilizing the following criteria:

• Experience: The submitting author has clearly indicated lived or learned expertise of the topic(s) that will be addressed.
• Relevance: The submission addresses significant, current issues related to Recuperative Care.
• Evidence: For clarity, the submission clearly indicates whether practices to be discussed are evidence-based, promising, or innovative.
• Inclusion: The proposal identifies components or processes that explain how participants with relevant lived experience were involved in the development, design, or presentation of the submission.
• Clarity: The abstract is well structured, coherent, and easy to understand.
• Format: The proposal reflects the expectations of the submitted session format (presentation or interactive workshop).
• Interactivity: The proposal indicates how the audience will be engaged during the session.
• Creativity: The submission will captivate the audience and inspire divergent thinking and new ideas.