Call for papers - Aging and disability

Guest Editors

Laura Coll Planas, PhD, University of Vic – Central University of Catalonia, Spain
Chengxuan Qiu, PhD, Karolinska Institutet, Sweden

Submission Status: Open | Submission Deadline: 12 September 2025

BMC Public Health is calling for submissions to our Collection on Aging and disability. Age-related diseases, chronic conditions, and impairments profoundly impact functional change among older adults. The consequences of this are manifold, encompassing diminished independence, reduced quality of life, increased risk of falls and injuries, heightened healthcare utilization, and greater caregiver burden. These factors collectively contribute to the complex challenges faced by individuals, families, healthcare systems, and society at large in addressing the needs of aging populations living with disabilities.

New Content Item This Collection supports and amplifies research related to SDG 3: Good Health and Well-being and SDG 10: Reduced Inequalities.

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Meet the Guest Editors

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Laura Coll Planas, PhD, University of Vic – Central University of Catalonia, Spain

Dr Laura Coll-Planas is a medical doctor with a PhD in Public Health. She is also an Associate Professor at the University of Vic – Central University of Catalonia and Senior Researcher in ageing and loneliness at the Institute for Research and Innovation in Life and Health Sciences in Central Catalonia. Her main interests are the psychosocial aspects of ageing, specifically loneliness and social support, as developed in her PhD in Public Health. Dr Coll-Planas is the PI of the Join4Joy European project to boost enjoyment and social inclusion in physical activity programs targeting community-dwelling older adults and also those living in nursing homes. She leads the work package in charge of the evaluation of interventions worldwide in the European project “RECETAS: Re-imagining Environments for Connection and Engagement: Testing Actions for Social Prescribing in Natural Spaces”.

Chengxuan Qiu, PhD, Karolinska Institutet, Sweden

Dr Chengxuan Qiu is an Associate Professor and Senior University Lecturer in epidemiology and Deputy Head of the Ageing Research Centre at Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden. Dr Qiu has authored over 250 articles that involve epidemiology and neuropathological mechanisms of brain aging, dementia, and physical impairment, and preventive interventions to promote brain health in ageing. His research has been based on several population-based MRI projects such as the Swedish National study on Aging and Care in Kungsholmen (SNAC-K) and the Icelandic Age, Gene/Environment Susceptibility-Reykjavik Study. Dr Qiu is the PI of the Multimodal Interventions to Delay Dementia and Disability in Rural China (MIND-China), a founding project of the global network for dementia risk reduction‒World-Wide FINGERS Network.

About the Collection

BMC Public Health is calling for submissions to our Collection on Aging and disability.
Age-related diseases, chronic conditions, and impairments profoundly impact functional change among older adults. The consequences of this are manifold, encompassing diminished independence, reduced quality of life, increased risk of falls and injuries, heightened healthcare utilization, and greater caregiver burden. These factors collectively contribute to the complex challenges faced by individuals, families, healthcare systems, and society at large in addressing the needs of aging populations living with disabilities.
This collection aims to illuminate the multifaceted dynamics of aging and disability by exploring their interplay and implications for individual well-being, healthcare systems, and societal structures. We are particularly interested in receiving submissions which address the following:

•   Falls prevention strategies
•   Cognitive and physical impairment in aging
•   Compression of morbidity and functional disability in aging
•   Assistive technologies for elderly independence
•   Age-related vision and hearing impairment
•   Long-term care services and supports
•   Social isolation among older adults with disabilities
•   Aging, disability, and mental health
•   Rehabilitation approaches for age-related disabilities
•   Palliative care for elderly individuals with disabilities

This Collection supports and amplifies research related to SDG 3: Good Health and Well-being and SDG 10: Reduced Inequalities.

All manuscripts submitted to this journal, including those submitted to collections and special issues, are assessed in line with our editorial policies and the journal’s peer review process. Reviewers and editors are required to declare competing interests and can be excluded from the peer review process if a competing interest exists.

There are currently no articles in this collection.

Submission Guidelines

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This Collection welcomes submission of original Research Articles. Should you wish to submit a different article type, please read our submission guidelines to confirm that type is accepted by the journal. Articles for this Collection should be submitted via our submission system, Snapp. During the submission process you will be asked whether you are submitting to a Collection, please select Aging and disability from the dropdown menu.

All manuscripts submitted to this journal, including those submitted to collections and special issues, are assessed in line with our editorial policies and the journal’s peer review process. Reviewers and editors are required to declare competing interests and can be excluded from the peer review process if a competing interest exists.