Advancing Health Equity: Challenges and Opportunities
A special issue of International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health (ISSN 1660-4601). This special issue belongs to the section "Global Health".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 July 2025) | Viewed by 2260
Special Issue Editor
Interests: advancing health equity; mental health; substance use; women and violence and indigenous health
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
Health inequalities exist globally, are persistent, and, in some cases, are growing. Many of these inequalities are the result of social, political, and economic disadvantages. Such inequalities affect peoples' chances of achieving and maintaining good health over their lifetimes. Where inequalities in health outcomes or in access to the resources that support health are systematic (that is, the patterns of difference are consistently observable between population groups) and can plausibly be avoided or ameliorated by collective action, they may be deemed unjust and inequitable. When there is health equity, every person has a fair and just opportunity to attain their full health potential, regardless of social position or socially determined circumstances. Achieving health equity requires valuing everyone equally with focused and ongoing societal efforts to address avoidable inequalities, historical and contemporary injustices, and both social and structural determinants of health, thereby eliminating disparities in health and health care.
This Special Issue of the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health (IJERPH) focuses on the current state of knowledge related to advancing health equity—the challenges and the opportunities. New research papers, reviews, case reports, and conference papers are welcome. Other acceptable manuscript types include methodological papers, position papers, brief reports, and commentaries.
Here are some examples of topics that could be addressed in this Special Issue:
- COVID-19 and the lessons learned regarding equitable health preparedness and prevention;
- Strategies for addressing health disparities and promoting health equity, including individual, organizational, and systems-level approaches;
- Equity-oriented approaches in health care (e.g., cultural safety/humility, trauma- and violence-informed care, and harm reduction/substance use health), particularly for populations marginalized by inequity;
- Digital health, information management, artificial intelligence, and health equity;
- The impact of intersecting factors, such as age, race/racialization, gender, sexuality, education, and socioeconomic status, on health outcomes;
- Equity-integrated knowledge mobilization strategies, including community-based and population health approaches.
Dr. Victoria Smye
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 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. 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
- health equity
- social justice
- intersectionality
- social and structural determinants of health
- sustainable development goals
- cultural safety
- cultural humility
- trauma- and violence-informed care
- harm reduction/substance use health
- health care
- digital health/information science
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