Social Determinants, Behavioral and Lifestyle Choices, and Health Disparities of Older Adults

Dear Colleagues, 

We are organizing a Special Issue on “Social Determinants, Behavioral and Lifestyle Choices, and Health Disparities of Older Adults” in the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. The venue is a peer-reviewed scientific journal that publishes articles and communications in the interdisciplinary area of environmental health sciences and public health. For detailed information on the journal, we refer you to https://www.mdpi.com/journal/ijerph.  

Many factors contribute to health disparities for older adults, ranging from individual health behaviors and lifestyle choices to social determinants of health, such as neighborhood characteristics, community environment, gentrification, etc. It is important to explore how older adults’ health is impacted by these various levels. For example, what is the role of individual health behaviors (e.g., physical activity, nutrition, body mass index/weight, smoking, alcohol drinking, other substance use, and sleep) and other lifestyle choices (e.g., social and intellectual engagement and mental well-being) in contributing to health equity or inequity? 

The role of community environment, i.e. an individual’s residence and surrounding geographic area, including social, physical, and built environments, is important to older adults’ health. Older adults aged 65+ can: 1) encounter increased limitations in mobility and housing options; 2) spend more time throughout the day in their communities using resources than younger adults who are employed full-time; 3) have longer exposure to potentially unhealthy communities vs. younger adults; and 4) experience stronger place attachment as they grow older, providing a sense of continuity through life course changes. These issues can vary by environment or place and social vulnerabilities, such as socioeconomic status (SES), race and ethnicity, gender, sexuality, immigrant, and other statuses differentially influencing health outcomes. 

As an example of community environment research, older adults may be vulnerable to gentrification, i.e. the transformation of neighborhoods from low to high value. Gentrification affects a community’s history and culture, often reducing trust and reciprocal relationships that facilitate neighbors helping neighbors. With changing social relationships and infrastructure, gentrification may lead to older adults’ social isolation and an inability to age-in-place. Thus, gentrification can also be a place-based stressor associated with older adults’ poorer health. 

Manuscript Submisson Information 

We encourage empirical research addressing multiple levels, from individual behaviors to structural factors related to various health outcomes and health disparities among older adults in the USA or internationally, using quantitative, qualitative, or mixed methods. This research may speak to the following topics (but not limited to these):

• Multiple levels of factors related to health, including individual health behaviors to social, economic, and physical conditions
• Relationships among social determinants, neighborhoods, and health
• The role of neighborhoods or community environment in health equity or health disparities
• Life course factors, such as the role of cumulative advantage/disadvantage to living in the same neighborhood over time as we age
• Gentrification related to social vulnerabilities and health disparities

The Special Issue will be edited by researchers working on multiple levels of health determinants, intersecting the social sciences, public health, and social gerontology fields. Associate Professor Ronica N. Rooks (University of Colorado Denver; ronica.rooks@ucdenver.edu) and Associate Professor Joyce Weil (The University of Northern Colorado; joyce.weil@unco.edu). Please email Drs. Rooks or Weil to indicate your interest in submitting a manuscript or for more information. 

Authors are invited to submit abstracts related to the topic areas described above. The guest editors will review all abstracts to assess for topic appropriateness and scientific rigor. Authors of high-scoring abstracts will be invited to submit a complete manuscript for anonymous peer review by the guest editors and additional peer reviewers. Please submit a 400 word structured abstract for initial review. 

Dr. Ronica N. Rooks
Dr. Joyce Weil
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-anonymized 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.