Submit a Manuscript to the Journal
Journal of Women & Aging
For a Special Issue on
Intergenerational Relationships, Aging and Public Health
Abstract deadline
Manuscript deadline
Special Issue Editor(s)
Heather Dillaway, PhD,
Illinois State University
[email protected]
Ronica N. Rooks, PhD,
University of Colorado Denver
[email protected]
Jo-Pei Tan, PhD,
Manchester Metropolitan University
[email protected]
Intergenerational Relationships, Aging and Public Health
Background
Since 1900, demographic and epidemiological transitions have increased the number (i.e., 3.1 million in 1900 to 55 million in 2020) and proportion of adults ages 65 years and older (4% in 1900 to 17% in 2020) in the United States. During the 21st century, the United States and many other countries will continue to have increasing numbers of older adults living even longer than in previous decades. Consequently, more generations coexist today in families, workplaces, and health, social, and community settings than ever before with diversity both within and between generational cohorts.
As people live longer among more generations, gendered patterns have emerged, particularly in health and caregiving. The male-to-female sex ratio decreases from about
1:1 before 65 years of age to 1:8 after 65 years old. Women will likely continue to live longer than men and, without additional changes in disease incidence, will experience greater burden of chronic disease morbidity and disability. Women will also continue to constitute most of the paid and unpaid primary caregivers for children and older parents, even though men increasingly contribute, especially in younger age cohorts. This sustained reliance on older women as primary caregivers increases the risk of negative effects on their mental, physical, and overall health. Given these gendered caregiving demands and the increasing reliance on younger generations, strengthening intergenerational relationships represents an opportunity. Intergenerational relationships between older and younger adults offer mutual benefits. For example, younger generations can provide new creative perspectives and technological support, and older adults can oRer wisdom, mentoring, and lived experiences. Intergenerational programming may help reduce social isolation and loneliness for both older and younger individuals, possibly by fostering a sense of purpose, social belonging, and improvement in quality of life. For younger generations, connections with older adults can improve cognitive and emotional growth and provide a sense of community service.
Shared experiences can create stronger communities, social cohesion, and innovative public and social infrastructures, possibly leading to improved population health across
multiple generations.
However, structural and social challenges can limit the implementation and sustainability of intergenerational programming efforts. Age-segregated living and housing, ageism, and competing costs represent potential barriers. Furthermore, the number of multigenerational households may be decreasing, with families increasingly dispersed between urban and suburban areas. Working adults, especially those in the “sandwich” generation, may be facing increased financial constraints, emotional stress, and burden to meet the care needs for older adults and younger dependents. Lack of accessible housing, transportation, and community spaces tailored to meet older adults’ varying mobility and other supportive needs limit integrated aging. Additionally, differences in technology access, adoption, and digital literacy within and across generations may hinder communication and shared activities, even as misinformation continues to affect individuals across the life span.
Submission Instructions
Joint Call for Abstracts: The American Journal of Public Health (AJPH) and the Journal of Women & Aging (JWA) are issuing a joint Call for Abstracts on intergenerational relationships and aging.
We seek papers that collectively address the following core questions:
(1) How do intergenerational relationships influence population health across diverse communities?
(2) What public health interventions can optimize healthy aging within and across generations among different communities?
Abstracts will be evaluated and selected for subsequent submission of full manuscripts based on scientific merit and relevance to this Call. Invited manuscripts will be submitted
and assigned for review with either AJPH or JWA based on the journal’s priorities, scope, and fit. AJPH and JWA will publish separately their respective collection of papers from this Call.
Topics may include, but not be limited to, the following:
• Benefits of intergenerational relationships on health behaviors and health outcomes.
• Intergenerational community-based and public health programming, and its effects on mental and physical health, quality of life, and well-being.
• Sex differences, gender disparities, and cross-cultural variation in intergenerational relationships.
• Agism and its association with chronic diseases, disparities in health care quality and access, and health disparities.
• Intergenerational implications for the prevention and management of chronic diseases.
• Health promotion marketing strategies within and across generations to promote health-seeking behaviors and healthy lifestyle.
• Intergenerational and intragenerational conflict and tensions in social and health policies, especially Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid.
How to Submit: Instructions and Timeline
Note: Please read the sections at the end of this Call to better understand AJPH’s and JWA’s mission and submission types.
By July 1, 2026, submit a 250-word abstract using this Submission Form.
• You may submit more than 1 abstract for consideration.
• Abstracts (structured or unstructured) should clearly and concisely articulate the problem(s) of interest, significance, study objective(s), research question(s), methods,
key findings (if any at this time), conclusions, and implications. Abstracts could be modified based on the type of your submission.
• Indicate the journal to which you want to submit your abstract and eventual paper, if invited, for consideration. Please note that the final decision regarding which journal
the abstract and eventual paper will be invited to will be at the discretion of the journal's editor-in-chief; all decisions by the journal’s editor-in-chief will be final.
The submission type should be clearly specified: research full-length article, research brief/brief report, photovoice (specific to AJPH), review article (specific to JWA), systematic review with meta-analysis (specific to AJPH), program evaluation (specific to AJPH), analytic/legal/history essays (specific to AJPH), and opinion editorials (specific to AJPH).
By August 1, 2026, authors will be informed if they are invited by either AJPH or JWA to submit a full manuscript.
• Procedures and instructions for submitting the manuscript will vary depending on the journal to which the paper will be submitted.
• Note: Please read sections at the end of this Call to better understand AJPH’s and JWA’s paper submission procedures.
By November 15, 2026, manuscripts will be due to the journal inviting the submission.
• AJPH and JWA will independently review all manuscripts according to their own editorial decision process and standards.
• During the review process, both journals will reserve the right to transfer manuscripts that they deem appropriate based on the journal’s priorities, scope, and fit. Authors
whose manuscript is transferred to the other journal will be notified, and they will need to revise and resubmit their manuscript accordingly.
By April 1, 2027, final decisions on all manuscripts—accept or reject—will be announced to the authors by the respective journal.
Both journals will independently publish their own set of papers resulting from this Call and will coordinate their publication dates.
AJPH Mission and Submission Types:
The American Journal of Public Health (AJPH) is dedicated to the publication of original work in research, research methods, and program evaluation in the field of public health.
The Journal also regularly publishes editorials and commentaries, and serves as a forum for health policy analysis. The mission of the Journal is to advance public health research, policy, practice, and education. AJPH is the official journal of and published independently by the American Public Health Association. While exceptions will be made, AJPH prioritizes papers that have direct public health policy and practice implications; examine population health and health outcome measures; take a health equity perspective (i.e., examines structural or social determinants of health or analyzes impact variation by population characteristics); and shape major public health discourse at the population level. While exceptions will be made, AJPH generally prefers papers that are based on representative data or multi-cohort studies (i.e., not convenience samples) and include the most recent data that have been collected within the past 3 years. AJPH only publishes systematic reviews with meta-analysis.
AJPH accepts the following submission types:
• Research Articles, Photovoice, and Program Evaluations: Data-focused, unbiased, and methodologically sound
• Essays: Historical, analytic, legal, or policy-focused
• Opinion Editorials: Balanced perspective, scientifically accurate, self-reflective (e.g., examines one’s own position), and evidence-informed.
Please visit AJPH’s website for Instructions for Authors and details on submissions that the Journal accepts.
JWA Mission and Submission Types:
The Journal of Women & Aging is an international, multidisciplinary, and peer-reviewed journal publishing high-quality, original research. The Journal is intended for researchers, educators, and practitioners. It provides a comprehensive guide to women’s experiences as they age, and includes research on gender and the life course. We welcome articles from multiple disciplines, including the social and behavioral sciences. Submissions span many fields, including but not limited to anthropology, communication studies, gender and women’s studies, gerontology, health sciences, psychology, public health, social work, and sociology.
Original research articles using various methodological approaches, as well as novel conceptual frameworks, review papers, and theoretical perspectives are invited. The Journal of Women & Aging accepts the following types of articles:
• Full-length Research Articles (Conceptual, Quantitative, Qualitative, Mixed Methods)
• Review Articles
• Brief Reports