Discrimination as a Social Determinant of Health and Healthcare Inequities
A special issue of International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health (ISSN 1660-4601).
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 July 2026 | Viewed by 183
Special Issue Editor
Interests: socioecological determinants of health disparities; health equity; health promotion and education; environmental health; rural health; cultural competence in higher education; scholarship of teaching and learning; curriculum development
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
Social determinants of health (SDOHs) are the non-medical, environmental, and social conditions that impact health outcomes and well-being, such as the following:
- Systemic racism and discrimination, poverty and unequal access to resources;
- Economic stability (housing instability, substandard housing conditions, food insecurity and nutritional challenges, employment and income barriers);
- Education access and quality (high school dropout rates, limited career opportunities);
- Healthcare access and quality (limited primary care access, rural healthcare disparities);
- Neighborhood and physical/built environment (lack of healthy food options, crime and violence, environmental health concerns, and lack of transportation);
- Social and community context (community resources, religious and cultural affiliations, community engagement), and;
- Early abuse, violence and trauma.
SDOHs, including racism and discrimination, directly contribute to health disparities among communities of color and marginalized populations (e.g., women and girls, children, rural residents, low-income individuals, the LGBTQ+ population, individuals with disabilities, undocumented immigrants, migrants, and refugees, indigenous communities, incarcerated populations, and people experiencing homelessness) nationally and globally, threatening health equity.
Papers on all topics that explore the link between discrimination and health and investigate reforms that address systems of oppression are encouraged in this Special Issue.
New research papers, case reports, brief reports, methodological papers, articles, systematic reviews, and commentaries are welcome. The Special Issue welcomes manuscripts across multiple fields that adopt various quantitative, qualitative, and mixed methodologies.
Prof. Dr. Anuli Njoku
Guest Editor
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. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly 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 2500 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
- social determinants of health
- racism
- discrimination
- environmental health
- maternal health
- mental health
- health disparities
- health equity
- minority
- health policy
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