Public Health Prevention Through Integrative Medicine: Community-Based and Society-Level Interventions
A special issue of Healthcare (ISSN 2227-9032). This special issue belongs to the section "Public Health and Preventive Medicine".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 August 2026 | Viewed by 718
Special Issue Editors
2. Department of Social Medicine and Epidemiology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Rijeka, HR -51000 Rijeka, Croatia
3. Department of Public Health, Faculty of Health Studies, University of Rijeka, Viktora Cara Emina 5, HR-51000 Rijeka, Croatia
Interests: CAM; integrative medicine; public and environmental health; integrative bioethics; human rights; sociology; sustainable development
Interests: public health, preventive medicine, integrative and complementary medicine; oncology; nursing; natural therapies; medical education, preventive medicine; forest medicine
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
In recent years, the global healthcare community has increasingly recognized the potential of evidence-based complementary and integrative medicine (CIM) to address some of the most pressing public health challenges of our time. As non-communicable diseases (NCDs), chronic stress, and mental health disorders place an increasing burden on healthcare systems, innovative approaches grounded in lifestyle and integrative medicine are gaining traction in preventive strategies at both the community and societal levels.
This Special Issue aims to consolidate interdisciplinary evidence on the role of CIM in public health prevention, with a particular focus on its implementation, accessibility, and outcomes across diverse populations. Interventions such as mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR), forest therapy, acupuncture, yoga, and phytotherapy have demonstrated potential to enhance health-related quality of life, reduce the risk of chronic diseases, and support mental resilience.
We particularly encourage submissions that investigate how integrative practices can be scaled within public health systems, integrated into policy frameworks, and tailored to address health inequalities. Contributions highlighting interdisciplinary collaboration, participatory research, and health system strengthening are also welcome.
In this Special Issue, original research articles, systematic reviews, policy papers, and implementation studies are welcome. Research areas may include (but are not limited to) the following:
- Systematic reviews and meta-analyses on the role of CIM in preventive public health;
- Implementation science studies on CIM programs in schools, workplaces, and communities;
- Clinical and population-level research on MBSR, yoga, acupuncture, phytotherapy, and forest therapy;
- Longitudinal studies evaluating health-related quality of life and resilience outcomes;
- Policy analyses on integrating CIM into national and regional prevention strategies;
- Health economic evaluations of CIM programs and their cost-effectiveness in disease prevention;
- Comparative effectiveness research between biomedical and CIM-based preventive approaches;
- Social prescribing models and their impact on community health and social cohesion;
- Intersectoral collaboration between public health, environmental, and social care systems;
- Sustainability-oriented preventive health models that integrate nature-based and traditional therapies.
We are excited to receive your contributions.
Dr. Aleksandar Racz
Dr. Ljerka Armano
Prof. Dr. Tomislav Rukavina
Guest Editors
Manuscript Submission Information
Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.
Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Healthcare is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.
Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2700 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.
Keywords
- integrative medicine
- health promotion
- community-based interventions
- health equity
- health-related quality of life
- forest therapy
- acupuncture
- lifestyle medicine
- healthcare system integration
- sustainable health interventions
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