This collection is part of a recurrent series- Insights in Aging and Public Health: 2021. Our global society is changing. Now in the third decade of the 21st Century, the achievements made by scientists have led to major advancements in the fast-growing field of Aging and Public Health. As indicated by the United Nations Declaration of the Decade of Healthy Aging (2021-2030), there is global interest in understanding determinants of healthy aging and strategies to improve the lives of older people, their families, and the communities in which they live. As such, the field of public health and aging must constantly evolve and adapt alongside the ongoing changes in population growth and demographics, social and physical environments, and policy and other drivers of health-related costs. Further, the indicators of risk and markers of success have assumed new meaning as new societal needs/challenges

The Social Determinants of Health (SDH) are defined by the World Health Organization as “the conditions in which people are born, grow, work, live, and age, and the wider set of forces and systems shaping the conditions of daily life”. Social determinants, as well as psychosocial factors, are elements that have a significant influence on people's health and well-being. These factors include psychological, social and also cultural aspects, which can affect a person's behavior and health. These psychosocial determinants may include stress, education, poverty, social exclusion, discrimination and violence. Such factors can act as protective or, on the contrary, increase the risk of physical and mental illness and affect the quality of life of individuals.

Along with advances in prevention, diagnosis, treatment and care of diseases, major health problems of the 21st century need to incorporate the point of view of those affected. Exploring, describing, and understanding the experiences of patients and populations is key to implementing health programs. Advancing public health involves training and involving and empowering vulnerable communities and populations.

The demographics of aging –whether differences in life expectancy or shouldering the burden of care for our aging populations—reflect that aging is indeed a women’s issue. In the field of Aging and Public Health, there are many highly influential and successful women who are contributing to the field and tackling important questions about risk factors for successful aging as well intervention strategies for promoting health and quality of life across the life-course.

Healthy aging is defined as the process of developing and maintaining the functional ability that enables well-being in older age. As population aging accelerates rapidly worldwide, healthy aging has become a major public health challenge. However, in later life, several metabolic diseases such as diabetes and hypertension and their complications (cardiovascular and renal diseases et al.) impose significant barriers to healthy aging. These conditions are influenced by various metabolic risk factors, such as smoking, high-calorie diet, and obesity. Moreover, these risk factors can also affect the aging process itself, by disrupting the balance of metabolic regulation in the body. Therefore, understanding the complex interactions between aging and metabolic diseases is essential for improving public health outcomes in older populations. This Research Topic aims to explore the links between metabolic risk factors, chronic and metabolic diseases, and healthy aging. We wish to unveil evidence on how to prevent, treat, and manage metabolic risk factors and diseases in older adults, in order to offer recommendations for future research and policy interventions toward healthy aging and public health.

It is estimated that at least 60% of persons dying have a prolonged advanced illness. The need for palliative and end-of-life care will increase due to the rapidly aging world population and the increase of multiple long-term conditions. For these reasons, palliative care is an integral part of public health and public health strategies. Palliative care as holistic person-centered care and has played a critical role in the recent public health emergency of the COVID-19 pandemic. There is a close association between public health, health promotion, and palliative care, and this research topic will highlight this association. Through a series of multi-disciplinary articles, we will explore public health in the context of life-limiting illnesses contributing to shaping person-centered care, including palliative, end-of-life, and rehabilitation. This research topic will discuss advanced and life-limiting illness as a public health challenge and explore the role of palliative and end-of-life care including rehabilitation in shaping person-centered care.