Factors That Affect the Physical and Mental Health of Vulnerable Groups

A special issue of Healthcare (ISSN 2227-9032). This special issue belongs to the section "Health Assessments".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 April 2025) | Viewed by 825

Special Issue Editors


E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Specific Didactics, Research, and Diagnose Methods, Grupo de Investigación FORVI (Formación y Orientación para la Vida), Universidade da Coruña, 15071 A Coruña, Spain
Interests: mentoring; physical health; mental health; personal welfare; vulnerable groups

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Faculty of Health Sciences, International University of La Rioja (UNIR), 26006 Logroño, Spain
Interests: gender violence; adolescents; the prison population; prison environment; influence of technology on human behavior; prisonization

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Vulnerable groups have always existed in all societies and times in history; however, they have been quite invisible. Current society is not conducive to these groups because we are in the midst of considerable uncertainty regarding world events that paralyze everything, such as pandemics (SARS-CoV-2), natural disasters (tsunamis), attacks between countries (wars and attacks of different kinds), or questioned technological advances (Artificial Intelligence).

What has been carried out on the subject is interesting, but it suffers from a too-deterministic and localized approach. We should opt for a more global and interdisciplinary perspective, which generates synergies between different work areas.

This Special Issue studies the physical and mental health of vulnerable groups, identifying the variables that affect each case and context. Moreover, it aims to help, in an interdisciplinary manner, to capture experiences that unite the concepts of health–vulnerability–well-being; analyze the state-of-the-art methods; and dare to innovate ways to prevent, treat or eradicate some of the negative situations experienced by these collectives.

I am pleased to invite you to contribute your studies and experiences. Original research articles and reviews are welcome in this Special Issue. Research areas may include the following:

Systematic reviews and meta-analyses of already-published articles contribute constructively to the development of strategies to address the physical and mental health of the vulnerable.

New perspectives towards solutions to specific cases, commitments to innovative ideas in health—addressing aspects that provide it, such as sexual education, specific needs, and specific groups (such as children, women, LGTBI or LGTBQ groups)—and situations that cause exclusion (such as immigration, wars, etc.), which demand global intervention, starting with both physical and mental health.

Validation studies of methodologies used that provide positive results towards the stated objective. Importantly, psychometric studies allow for the adaptation or development of tools that measure psychophysiological characteristics or traits that affect people’s vulnerability to a greater extent as well as the psychometric characteristics of evaluation instruments that are already used.

I look forward to receiving your contributions.

Dr. María-Luisa Rodicio-García
Dr. María Penado Abilleira
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 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

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

  • vulnerable groups
  • physical health
  • mental health
  • personal welfare
  • gender
  • LGTBI
  • LGTBQ

Benefits of Publishing in a Special Issue

  • Ease of navigation: Grouping papers by topic helps scholars navigate broad scope journals more efficiently.
  • Greater discoverability: Special Issues support the reach and impact of scientific research. Articles in Special Issues are more discoverable and cited more frequently.
  • Expansion of research network: Special Issues facilitate connections among authors, fostering scientific collaborations.
  • External promotion: Articles in Special Issues are often promoted through the journal's social media, increasing their visibility.
  • Reprint: MDPI Books provides the opportunity to republish successful Special Issues in book format, both online and in print.

Further information on MDPI's Special Issue policies can be found here.

Published Papers (1 paper)

Order results
Result details
Select all
Export citation of selected articles as:

Research

21 pages, 5023 KiB  
Article
Implementation of a Family Skills Programme in Internally Displaced People Camps in Kachin State, Myanmar
by Karin Haar, Aala El-Khani, Hkawng Hawng, Tun Tun Brang, Win Mar, Zin Ko Ko Lynn and Wadih Maalouf
Healthcare 2025, 13(9), 1090; https://doi.org/10.3390/healthcare13091090 - 7 May 2025
Viewed by 425
Abstract
Background/Objectives: Children that are forcibly displaced are more likely to experience mental health and behavioural challenges than non-displaced populations, including increased risk of anxiety, depression and post-traumatic stress disorder. Building appropriate parenting skills to strengthen the relationships between caregivers and their children in [...] Read more.
Background/Objectives: Children that are forcibly displaced are more likely to experience mental health and behavioural challenges than non-displaced populations, including increased risk of anxiety, depression and post-traumatic stress disorder. Building appropriate parenting skills to strengthen the relationships between caregivers and their children in times of war is key to building resilience in children. There is a lack of research on the role of family skill interventions in internally displaced people (IDP). The aim of this study was to assess the potential change in parenting skills, child mental health, and resilience capacity in families living in IDP camps in Kachin State, Myanmar, after taking part in a brief family skill intervention, Strong Families. Methods: An open, multi-site pilot feasibility and acceptability trial was conducted with 100 families. Outcome data were collected prospectively, assessing changes in parenting skills and family adjustment in caregivers, children’s behaviour, and children’s resilience capacities. Families were assessed using three scales, Parenting and Family Adjustment Scales (PAFAS), the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ), and the Child and Youth Resilience Measure (CYRM-R). Results: Despite being a light intervention, Strong Families produced improvements in the child mental health, parenting practices, and parent and family adjustment skills scales. Improvements were observed in scores particularly for caregivers and children with greater challenges at baseline. Conclusions: The results positively value the importance and feasibility of family skill interventions being integrated into the routine care of IDP families. This advocates for the prioritisation of using such tools for supporting better family functioning and mental health in humanitarian contexts. Full article
Show Figures

Figure 1

Back to TopTop