Critical Care and Public Health: Integrating Patients, Families, and Communities
A special issue of International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health (ISSN 1660-4601). This special issue belongs to the section "Health Care Sciences".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 30 July 2026 | Viewed by 35
Special Issue Editor
Interests: critical care nursing; health technology; nursing workload; critical surgical illnesses; chronic illnesses
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
Critical care medicine has traditionally emphasized the delivery of life-sustaining interventions within specialized units, yet the COVID-19 pandemic and other recent global health emergencies have highlighted the need for a paradigm shift, integrating critical care with public health frameworks and engaging patients, families, and communities as active stakeholders in the continuum of care.
Emerging evidence indicates that outcomes in critical illness are not determined solely by clinical interventions but also by contextual factors such as health literacy, shared decision-making, equity of access, and community-level preparedness. Strengthening the interface between intensive care and population health is essential to reduce disparities, enhance resilience, and improve long-term recovery trajectories.
Despite advances in patient- and family-centered models, digital health technologies, and interprofessional collaboration, significant research gaps remain. Multicenter trials, health systems analyses, and mixed-methods approaches are required to evaluate scalable interventions that bridge critical care and public health.
This Special Issue would benefit from contributions addressing the integration of intensive and community-based approaches, with emphasis on translational research and methodological rigor. Manuscripts combining clinical, epidemiological, and social perspectives, and those with relevance for policy and practice, are particularly welcome.
Dr. João Lindo Simões
Guest Editor
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Keywords
- critical care
- intensive care units
- family-centered care
- patient participation
- community health services
- public health
- health equity
- caregivers
- shared decision-making
- continuity of patient care
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