The AcademyHealth ARM: Conference Fieldnotes and Reflections

MCL Backstory

By Brandi Ginn

Since I joined MCL last year, I’ve identified an interest in learning more about social interventions for older adults and their support networks. Through a career in research, I hope to contribute to long-term health care and supportive services available to older adults living with ADRD, their caregivers, and their families. In this blog, I write about my experience attending the 2024 AcademyHealth Annual Research Meeting (ARM) with the goal of learning about contemporary research and interventions in the field of aging. 

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In the past year, I had been eager to learn about health services and related policies, but I did not know where to start. Postdoctoral fellows in MCL encouraged me to find conferences where health experts discuss their research. I talked with my mentor, MCL PI Daniel Dohan, to discuss the opportunities to educate myself on health services research at Academy Health. I hoped to learn more about the intricacies of healthcare in the US, individual state services, and community health interventions for underserved communities. Ultimately, I hoped to determine if I could see a future for myself in the field of health services. After reflecting on the professional benefits and personal enrichments that would come from attending the AcademyHealth ARM and some gentle encouragement from my fellow MCL members, I embarked on an exciting trip.

The 2024 AcademyHealth ARM occurred in late June in my home state of Maryland. I joined thousands of attendees near Baltimore's Inner Harbor to learn, discuss, and strategize on best practices to address pressing public health issues. It was inspiring to be among such a vibrant, compassionate, and impressive collective of healthcare and delivery system champions. 

Encouraged by my mentor, I decided to use the ethnographic skills I had developed during MCL-related fieldwork (DISCERN-MC) to provide insight into social interactions and the environmental context that shaped my experience at AcademyHealth ARM. The following are my observations and reflections on attending the conference as a first-timer through an ethnographic lens.

Field Notes from AcademyHealth ARM

Beginning bright and early on the last Saturday morning of June, attendees made their way from surrounding hotels to the Baltimore Convention Center. The large atrium was abuzz with excitement and an academic air. Attendees either headed towards their first session, flocked to the coffee and tea stations, or (like me) rejoiced at the AC as an out-of-towner adjusting to the Baltimore heat and humidity. To foster belonging and social connection among the attendees, this year’s AcademyHealth ARM organizing team provided an endless assortment of decorative, encouraging ribbons to adorn one’s conference badge. My elective ribbons read “First-Time Attendee,” “CHEERS,” and “Happy Day,” with several smiley faces. 

Aside from the festive memorabilia, one striking aspect I noticed on my first day was the expansive network of folks from all over the country, across work sectors, contributing to the ever-changing healthcare landscape. In the check-in and coffee lines alone, I met students training in OT, nursing, and public policy. I listened to several presentations on interventions addressing social needs for vulnerable populations, and during the Q&A periods, researchers and community health workers alike stood to ask questions about a project’s motivations, methods, conclusions, and next steps. It became apparent to me that the culture of AcademyHealth promoted challenging and stimulating discussions regardless of status or credentials.

I found there to be great value in learning from the presentation styles of researchers and healthcare advocates. Though I appreciated presenters’ poise and eloquence, I was most drawn to folks whose presentations balanced sharing data and sharing future guidance to improve healthcare delivery for marginalized populations. Bonus points if the presentation was closely connected to the advertised topic! An example of this is MCL codirector Sarah Garrett, PhD’s presentation on state-level interventions for maternal health inequities. She detailed the current California policies to reduce health inequities that Black birthing people face and highlighted the gaps in care delivery. Linked to her prior study (MEND), Sarah’s research brought forth many recommendations to promote better care of and communication with Black birthing people through and following their pregnancies.

While session topics ranged from patient and consumer needs to workforce development, social determinants of health to organizational management, one thing rang true throughout the conference: academic and workforce professionals strive daily to improve healthcare.  Many subfields divide these agents of change within the institution of American healthcare. Many work at the individual level to address the day-to-day needs of those engaging with the healthcare system, while others work at the macro level to close disparities for marginalized and underserved communities, around the country and around the world.

In addition to hundreds of available interest groups, roundtables, and workshops, there were daily poster sessions that provided academic trainees, students, faculty, and healthcare workforce professionals with the opportunity to engage with one another. Clustered by content area, dozens of posters lined the conference hall, proudly displaying in the ‘Results’ box the culmination of a team’s months-long effort toward scientific inquiry. Our very own Krista Harrison, PhD, Juliana Friend, PhD, Sophie Morse, PhD, Sharifa Brooks-Smith-Lowe, MPhil, and Bethney Bonilla presented posters at AcademyHealth.

Care Models and Advanced Care Planning (ACP) communication for older adults and engaged family advocates in Primary Care Settings

The array of sessions available to attendees was both impressive and overwhelming. I attended sessions on older adults, caregiving, and long-term care services. For me, each presentation illuminated another twinkling obstacle in the constellation of health service issues facing older adults and their support networks.

Julia Adler-Milstein, PhD of UCSF presented a project developing a measure to assess Health Systems’ adherence to Age-Friendly care using the Institute for Healthcare Improvement’s (IHI) 4Ms framework. In this same session, Julia Bergdorf, PhD from the Center for Home Care Policy & Research at VNS Health discussed the prevalence and positive outcomes (lower odds of hospitalization and ED visits) of social work visits for home-dwelling people living with dementia (PLWD). From these presentations, I learned about the methods researchers and care organizations are employing to improve the quality of care for older adults.

Challenges with aligning older adult directives and primary care actions and documentation was a theme discussed in multiple presentations. Jennifer Wolff, PhD and Daniel Scerpella, MPH of Johns Hopkins University School of Public Health presented related projects, “Sharing Choices” and “SHARE,” which both examined primary care navigation for people living with dementia and their families. “Sharing Choices” is a cluster-randomized intervention of two health systems examining improvements for ACP discussions and documenting advanced directives including the use of facilitators with ACP competency. “SHARE” is a subsequent patient-family focused intervention with treatment being facilitator-driven ACP discussion. Together, both studies illuminated the challenges around end-of-life planning for PLWD and their care partners, and the benefit of ACP facilitators who provide patient-tailored resources and support.

Final Reflections

I found my time at the AcademyHealth ARM to be invigorating, informative, and impactful. My favorite part of each presentation tended to be when speakers connected their efforts toward improvements in the quality of life for patients. I felt fortunate to have been a part of such a thoughtful, inquisitive group. The experiences and knowledge that I have gained from attending presentations and interacting with health professionals will enable me to contribute to improvements in the healthcare system for older adults with an enhanced critical and compassionate lens.