Healthy Ageing: Tackling Loneliness and Social Inequality
A special issue of International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health (ISSN 1660-4601). This special issue belongs to the section "Aging".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (1 September 2023) | Viewed by 2324
Special Issue Editor
2. Laboratório para a Investigação Integrativa e Translacional em Saúde Populacional (ITR), Rua das Taipas 135, 4050-600 Porto, Portugal
Interests: social epidemiology; health inequalities; healthy ageing; social isolation; social support
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
The population of older adults is growing more rapidly than any other age demographic. These trends pose new societal challenges to public health agendas, including the WHO’s Health 2020 pledge: to improve the health and well-being of populations, reduce health inequities, and ensure the development of people-centred health systems. In fact, longer lives are not synonymous with healthier lives, and pursuing an active and healthy ageing for all, that goes beyond being free from disease, is imperative.
Social isolation and loneliness are important, yet neglected, social determinants of health in older people. Social isolation is exacerbated in old age and is considered a risk factor for poor physical and mental health. Moreover, the risk of being lonely varies according to the individual’s level of wealth, producing complex social patterns that require further research. Additionally, the COVID‐19 crisis has exacerbated these challenges, worsening social isolation and loneliness among those who live alone or are frail and affecting the well‐being of individuals with previously healthy social lives.
So far, many studies on socially isolated older adults are not effective because they do not match the needs of socially isolated older adults themselves. Thus, further strategic research is urgently needed, encompassing longitudinal information and an integrated approach to the objective and subjective aspects of ageing to inform policy makers and, consequently, to contribute to healthy ageing for all.
For this Special Issue, we welcome original quantitative and qualitative studies conducted on many groups of older adults worldwide, focusing on health inequalities, social isolation and feelings of loneliness. Studies exploring how equity in healthy ageing can be achieved are highly appreciated. Papers presenting interventions to reduce social isolation and loneliness are also welcome.
Dr. Ana Henriques
Guest Editor
Manuscript Submission Information
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Keywords
- older adults
- health inequalities
- loneliness
- socioeconomic position
- social isolation
