According to the United Nations “By the end of the Decade of Healthy Aging (2021–2030), the number of people aged 60 years and older will be 34% higher, increasing from 1 billion in 2019 to 1.4 billion. By 2050, the global population of older people will have more than doubled, to 2.1 billion”. Greater life expectancy has been driven by reductions in early-life mortality - including maternal and child deaths - alongside advances in disease prevention and treatment, improved health systems, and health-promoting behaviour.
Globally, older people are living longer, but this does not necessarily mean that older people are healthier. The WHO defines healthy aging as “the process of developing and maintaining the functional ability that enables wellbeing in older age.” Wellbeing can refer to physical, cognitive, emotional, and social function.
We intentionally seek to explore the topic of Healthy Aging within a global context, across medical and allied specialties, through a diverse authorship, and a wide variety of perspectives. We particularly encourage contributions from low- and middle-income settings, recognizing the unique challenges these regions may face as population aging accelerates, potentially outpacing healthcare infrastructure and policy development
We welcome research that focuses on one or more of the following areas:
- Implications of increasing life expectancy for clinical care, service delivery, and the sustainability of healthcare systems, including models of care that support aging populations.
- Health system preparedness for future increases in life expectancy, including adaptation of medical specialties to evolving needs.
- Research that can improve patient care for older people, in different medical specialties, including improvements in prevention, diagnosis, treatment or management of aging- related diseases. This could include non-communicable diseases but also geriatric conditions and syndromes (e.g. frailty, falls, incontinence, polypharmacy).
- The biological mechanisms of aging, to identify therapeutic targets for aging-related diseases. These could consider basic molecular/cellular aging processes, and clinical biomarkers of aging.
- The development of strategies to enhance the health span of older adults including clinical trials, and new theories of aging and comparative studies.
- Address the structural and social determinants of health across the life course that influence aging trajectories.
- Mental health challenges of older individuals with the goal of creating effective interventions.
Understanding these areas has profound implications for health professionals and society at large.
If you would like to submit an article for inclusion in this collection simply submit your paper to the journal that is most relevant to your research.
The following journals are participating in the special collection:
- Aging and Cancer
- American Journal of Medical Genetics - Part A
- American Journal of Medical Genetics Part B: Neuropsychiatric Genetics
- Anaesthesia
- BJOG
- Brain and Behavior
- British Journal of Pharmacology
- Catheterization and Cardiovascular Intervention
- Cell Biochemistry & Function
- Clinical Cardiology
- Clinical Case Reports
- Health Science Reports
- HIV Medicine
- JEADV Clinical Practice
- Journal of Cachexia, Sarcopenia and Muscle
- Lasers in Surgery and Medicine
- Lifestyle Medicine
- Molecular Genetics & Genomic Medicine
- Molecular Nutrition & Food Research
- Physiotherapy Research International
- Proteoglycan Research
- The Clinical Teacher
- Trends in Urology & Men's Health
- World Journal of Surgery
The submission deadline is 31 December 2025.
If your paper is accepted for publication, it will be published in a regular issue of the journal. It will also be published in this special virtual collection, scheduled for publication in 2026.
We will be thanking our contributors in the form of a charitable donation. For each article published, $100 will be paid to Médecins Sans Frontières (UK) (charity number: 1026588), up to a maximum of $5,000.
If you have further queries about the deadline or your submission, please contact the project lead, Kshitija Iyer ([email protected]).
Wiley are a signatory of the Joint Commitment for Action on Inclusion and Diversity in Publishing. You can find more information here.
Author Services: The website provides easy-to-access publishing resources and training tools for authors, reviewers, and editors.
Open Access: Authors who wish to publish their paper open access can check their eligibility for funding here.
