Abstracts

Please use the following link to download the form for the abstract submission in english.

General Information

Guidelines and Directives

  • Please follow the guidelines below before submitting your abstract.

Submission

  • Once you have filled out the abstract submission form as well as the abstract text template, please send everything to dkvf@kukm.de.

Confirmation of Submission

  • After you have submitted the abstract, both you will receive a confirmation by e-mail. Please contact us if you do not receive the confirmation that your abstract has been submitted.
  • You will also receive the abstract ID with the confirmation of submission. From then on, please quote the ID in all correspondence.
  • We recommend that you proofread the abstract again, as the abstract will be published as submitted. Any errors in spelling or grammar will therefore also appear in the program and in the abstractband.

Changes

  • Please do not submit multiple copies of the same abstract. Even if the abstract has already been submitted, you can write us an E-Mail to make small changes (title, authors and affiliations, abstract text) to your abstract until the submission deadline on March 25th, 2026.

Deadline/Notification

  • Abstract submission ends on March 25th, 2026, after which all submitted abstracts will be evaluated anonymously by several reviewers of the program committee. The submitters will be informed about the result of the abstract evaluation on July 15th, 2026.
  • The program committee reserves the right to decide on the acceptance of an abstract and to determine the final form of presentation ( lecture, short lecture, poster).

Presentation and Registration

  • By submitting the abstract, the presenter formally commits to presenting the abstract in the session and time allocated by the scientific committee.
  • The abstract submission does not replace the congress registration. The presenter must register separately for the congress via the online registration and pay the participation fee.

Publication

  • Information about the publication of the abstracts will follow shortly.
Guidelines and Directives

Category

  • Assign the abstract to a category. You can view all categories below ("Tracks and Categories").

Abstract Title

  • The title should be informative and contain the most important keywords.

Presentation Type

  • You can choose between the following presentation types: lecture, short lecture, poster, science slam.
  • The program committee reserves the right to decide on the acceptance of an abstract and to determine the final form of presentation (lecture, short lecture, poster, science slam).

Authors

  • The following contact details are requested as part of the submission: name, e-mail address, affiliation(s).

Anonymity

  • Due to the anonymous evaluation, the Word document with the abstract text is not allowed to contain any references to the names of the authors, their affiliations or     funding.

Funding and Conflict of Interest

  • If the project on which your abstract is based is/was funded, please indicate this in the course of submission.
  • Please also indicate any conflicts of interest of all authors involved in the abstract.

Language

  • Abstracts can be submitted in German or English.
  • English-language sessions for an international audience are planned as part of the congress.

Core Statement

  • Please summarize the core statement of your abstract in one sentence.

Structure and Content

  • Only use the template (Word document, font: Arial, font size: 11, no indentation, no spacing) for the submission. You can download the corresponding template here.  Delete the notes marked in red and the templates that you do not need from the Word template before uploading the abstract.
  • The length of the abstract is limited to 3,000 characters (incl. spaces).
  • The use of special text formatting in the title or content of the abstract should be used sparingly. It cannot be guaranteed that all formatting will be displayed correctly in all output media.
  • If only partial results or no results are available at the time of submission, please describe the expected results and discuss their potential impact.

Track and Categories

Track 1: PEOPLE

People in regions and their living environments with changing needs over the course of their lives and illnesses, as well as patient-centered care design, are at the heart of healthcare and form the thematic focus of this strand.

  • Patient-centered care design
  • Emergency medical care research
  • Health services research in the last year of life
  • Care for children and adolescents
  • Oncological health services research
  • Health services research on mental health
  • Dental, oral, and maxillofacial healthcare research
  • Dermatological and allergological health services research
  • Health services research on chronic diseases and multimorbidity
  • Rehabilitative health services research
  • Exercise-related health services research
  • Prevention
  • Health literacy
  • Climate change and health
  • Digital health applications (DiGA) / Digital care applications (DiPA)
  • Interaction and communication between patients and caregivers
  • Relatives and loved ones
  • Patient needs and preferences
  • Coping with illness
  • Social inequalities in healthcare
  • Care for vulnerable groups
  • Other

Track 2: ORGANISATIONS

This track focuses on healthcare organizations and their design and further development.

  • Organization-related healthcare research
  • Quality and patient safety research
  • Multiprofessional collaboration and cross-sector care
  • Health services research in therapy, midwifery, and nursing professions
  • Employee health in healthcare organizations
  • Resilience of organizations and health systems

Track 3: TOGETHER

This strand focuses on participatory research and the further development and reflection of participatory healthcare research. In addition to the participation of those affected and their relatives in research, this also includes the participation of healthcare professionals.

  • Participatory study designs and research methods
  • Evaluation and effectiveness of participatory research approaches
  • Research involving those affected / patient science
  • Citizen initiatives / Citizen sciences
  • Co-design

Track 4: CREATING KNOWLEDGE

This strand focuses on the application, further development, and discussion of methods, theories, and models, as well as teaching, training, and continuing education in health services research.

  • Application and discussion of theories, models, and methods
  • Methods of evidence synthesis
  • Mixed methods and method triangulation
  • Qualitative methods
  • Quantitative methods
  • Dealing with AI, digital data, and tools in health services research
  • Causal inference in health services research
  • Register-based research and routine data
  • Validation and linkage of secondary data
  • Science communication
  • Other

Track 5: SHARED LEARNING

This track promotes international exchange and shared learning in health services research by fostering collaboration in research, education, and practice across countries and health systems.

  • International comparisons in health services research
  • Health systems research
  • Quality assurance systems in international comparison
  • Health literacy from an international perspective
  • Return to work from an international perspective
  • Climate change and health
  • Artificial intelligence in research and healthcare delivery
  • Curricular developments and degree programmes in health services research
  • Other international contributions to health services research

Special Formats

Master's Corner

Once again this year, students with a connection to health services research and implementation science have the opportunity to present student contributions in their own session at the German Congress for Health Services Research (DKVF). Abstracts can be submitted from July 20th to August 17th, 2026.

Science Slam

This format is aimed specifically at scientists in the field of health services research who would like to present their research in a different format. In their own session, the slammers have the opportunity to present their own scientific work and to convince the audience with any props. The audience forms the jury, which will select the winner at the end of the session.

The criteria listed in the guidelines for abstracts also apply for submissions for the Science Slam.

Photo exhibition

Experiencing people, relationships and organisations.

A photo exhibition is being organised to mark the anniversary of the congress. We are looking for expressive and exciting photographs that visualise 25 years of health services research. The photos should show people, relationships and organisations – from the perspective of patients, those affected, clients, relatives, carers and health services researchers.

Further information on submitting photos will follow shortly.

Scholarships for Young Scientists

Every year, the DNVF awards three congress scholarships to young scientists, which include free admission to the entire congress. Students and doctoral candidates who submit an abstract can apply for the scholarship until July 16th, 2026. In addition to the abstract, a CV and a cover letter explaining the reasons for attending the congress must be submitted as a PDF (to the congress agency KUKM (dkvf@kukm.de)). The congress scholarships are awarded on the basis of the abstract evaluations by the reviewers as well as the letter of motivation and the CV.

For questions regarding abstract submission please contact

Kongress- und Kulturmanagement GmbH
Miriam Bitterlich
Phone: +49 3643 2468-149
E-mail: dkvf@kukm.de