Submission process
This year’s plenary theme is ‘Agile not fragile: Designing for resilience, renewal and regeneration’.
The European Healthcare Design 2026 Congress is dedicated to the global exchange of knowledge on the relationship between research, practice and policy in the design and planning of health systems, services, technology, workforce and infrastructure.
Why submit an abstract?
The Congress is scheduled to be held ‘in person’ at the QEII Centre, Westminster, London, on 15-17 June, and streamed virtually online to enable virtual participation.
Congress attendees will develop their knowledge of the political, social, economic and environmental context; emerging practice, skills and core competencies in designing and planning health services, technology and infrastructure; project management; and the evidence base for healthcare design, sustainable development and quality improvement. We are delighted to invite you to submit abstracts on the following core themes.
2026 Themes
From hospital to community, and treatment to prevention; ecoystem approaches to integrating care and fostering healthy communities
New service, funding and asset models that promote equity, quality improvement and strengthen health system resilience
Adaptive and humanistic environments and spaces to support clinical service planning strategies
Whole system-level adoption of digital health, AI, personalised medicine and smart hospital innovations
Applying circular economy principles and net–zero carbon strategies to services and infrastructure
Design at the human scale to promote wellbeing, identity and dignity, support recovery, and empower patients and staff
Integrating specialist services and infrastructure, including mental health services, cancer care, women and children, and rehabilitation
Authors are invited to submit abstracts of 400 words in English for any of the following: a) themed paper; b) poster; c) workshop. The abstract should clearly state the background, purpose, methods, results and conclusions/ implications. Presentations in all three formats can be focused on any of research, practice or theory.
For more detailed abstract guidelines, visit
www.europeanhealthcaredesign.eu.
Papers addressing more than one of the Congress themes will be given preference. All abstracts will be subject to a rigorous blind peer-review process by the EHD 2026 Programme Committee. A carefully selected number will be chosen for oral presentation with a wider number presented in poster format accompanied by a video talk.
Proposals must be submitted using the abstract proposal form, available at www.europeanhealthcaredesign.eu and MUST include the following details: a) presentation type (themed paper, poster or workshop); b) knowledge focus (research, practice or theory); c) congress theme (choice of three out of eight streams); d) title; e) author(s); f) organisational affiliation; and g) learning objectives.
The abstracts of the papers chosen for presentation will be published online. Videos of the talks and written papers, and digital versions of the posters with an accompanying
pre-recorded video talk will be published online at
www.salus.global. Presenters are expected to gain consent for video reproduction and digital dissemination of any material they present. Please note: the author(s) and/or
co-author(s) are required to register and pay the registration fee to participate and present the paper at the Congress. Speakers will be expected to present ‘in person’. Remote presentations will be possible if speakers are unable to attend in person due to medical or personal circumstances. The official language of EHD 2026 is English.
Who should submit a paper?
The European Healthcare Design Congress, Awards & Exhibition attracts the world’s leading interdisciplinary thinkers, researchers and practitioners in the field including:
| • Physicians | • Clinical managers |
| • Healthcare executives | • Architects and designers |
| • Estates/capital development | • Engineers and developers |
| • Nursing professionals | • Health planners |
| • Commissioners | • Occupational therapists |
| • Health scientists | • Psychologists |
| • Service designers | • Economists |
