Sustainability of Physical and Mental Health during COVID-19 and Other Pandemics

Dear Colleagues,

This Special Issue focuses on physical and mental health, which have been closely linked to one of seventeen Sustainable Development Goals initiated by the United Nations. To ensure healthy lives and well-being at all ages, any sustainable approaches inspired by these Sustainable Development Goals should be considered. Since the COVID-19 pandemic impacted almost every aspect of people’s life, the sustainability of healthy physical and mental health has become prominent. Information on sustainability-driven approaches that can promote the physical and mental health of the entire population across subgroups is invaluable.

This Special Issue aims to assemble a range of sustainability-related approaches/aspects that can promote physical and mental health, including, but not limited to, healthy cities, health behaviours, use of technology, health service, one health, public health policies, etc. We are interested in the effectiveness of these approaches amid the COVID-19 pandemic. In addition, we also welcome research examining the approaches that occurred prior to the pandemic but demonstrate implications amid the pandemic and the post-pandemic periods. We aim, via this Special Issue, to provide insight into sustainability-related approaches that promote physical and mental health and to inform large-scale interventions, projects and/or polices for improved quality of life. 

We welcome submissions of original research articles (both observational and interventional) and reviews (systematic or non-systematic reviews of high quality) on physical and mental health. Topics for this Special Issue include (but are not limited to):

• Environmental influence (e.g., urban environment, natural environment, physical environment, social environment, etc.);
• Behaviours or lifestyle factors related to physical and mental health (e.g., physical activity, healthy diet, leisure or community activities, socialising, sleep, news consumption, sedentary behaviours, etc.);
• Use of technology (e.g., social media, wearable devices);
• Health services (e.g., digital health, health system quality and safety, healthcare delivery);
• One health (e.g., biodiversity and zoonotic diseases linked to human’s physical and mental health);
• Public health policies (e.g., impact of public health measures, healthcare economics).

Dr. Casper J.P. Zhang
Dr. Wai-Kit Ming
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. Sustainability 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 2400 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.

• mental health
• physical health
• psychological wellbeing
• chronic disease
• COVID-19
• pandemic
• lifestyle