ClinicoEconomics and Outcomes Research

Dove Medical Press is pleased to invite you to submit your research to an upcoming Article Collection on "Demographic Changes and Health Inequality in Developing Countries", organized by Guest Advisor Prof. Qihui Chen in ClinicoEconomics and Outcomes Research. 

At least since World War II, structural changes in the population, including those in age structures, fertility rates, sex ratio, marital status, and migration patterns, have been undergoing in many developing countries, which have had profound impacts on the formation of human capital and the development of education, food, health, and welfare systems. Since these changes affect how resources may be allocated to different segments of the population, they will ultimately impact the distribution of individual well-being, health-related outcomes included. Uncertainties introduced by recurring natural disasters, geo-political conflicts, disease outbreaks, and related policies add another layer of complexity to the relationship between demographic changes and health inequality. 

Understanding the demographic change-health inequality relationship is undoubtedly of policy relevance. Take population aging, for example. With proper inventions, aging tends to create health disparities between older and younger adults. Compared with younger adults, older adults face declines in somatic function and cognitive ability and are more vulnerable to chronic diseases; they need more healthcare but usually lack a stable income to finance this need. The recent COVID-19 pandemic brings about new challenges to older adults. Problems such as reduced access to healthcare, limited food supply, and separation from family members due to safety concerns and travel restrictions are likely to impact older adults more seriously than younger adults, widening existing health gaps between the two groups. Similarly, health disparities may exist between other population segments and along other dimensions. As such, advancements in knowledge about the health challenges faced by different subpopulations introduced by demographic changes, the strategies adopted by different entities to cope with these challenges, as well as the roles of families, private organizations, and public policy, are necessary for informing healthcare policy. 

This call for a collection of articles provides a forum for scholarly discussions on how demographic changes affect health behavior and outcomes for different subpopulations in developing countries, the roles of and interactions between different entities, and the effectiveness of related policies. Research articles and in-depth reviews examining these issues, especially those combining rigorous empirical analysis and clear policy implications, are welcome for this article collection. 

Keywords

1. Demographic changes

2. Population policy

3. Health behavior and outcomes

4. Health inequality

5. Health policy

All manuscripts submitted to this Article Collection will undergo desk assessment and peer-review as part of our standard editorial process. Guest Advisors for this collection will not be involved in peer-reviewing manuscripts unless they are an existing member of the Editorial Board. Please review the journal Aims and Scope and author submission instructions prior to submitting a manuscript. 

Please submit your manuscript on our website, quoting the promo code EDKUO to indicate that your submission is for consideration in this Article Collection. The deadline for submitting manuscripts is 31 August 2024.

Guest Advisor

Professor Qihui Chen, College of Economics and Management, China Agricultural University, China 

[email protected]

Dr. Qihui Chen is a professor in the Center for Food and Health Economic Research at China Agricultural University. He received his Ph.D. degree in Applied Economics from the University of Minnesota in 2012. Dr. Chen’s research focuses on applying causal inference methods to study education and health issues in developing countries, such as how population policies affect child education and health, how retirement policy affects older adults’ nutrition intake and health, and how health information (e.g., disease diagnoses) affect patients’ health behavior. He has served as a consultant for the World Bank Groups for many years since 2011.

View all papers in this article collection