Special Issue "COVID-19 Driven Innovations for Inclusion and Sustainability" International Journal of Environment Research and Public Health

COVID-19 has demonstrated the breadth of exclusion faced by minorities globally and the impacts of the environments we live in on population health. We have seen people with disabilities and older populations disproportionately affected by the global crisis. Similarly, black and ethnic minorities in majority white populations have been further left behind by the global pandemic.

At the same time, we have seen disruption across global supply chains of health and environmental products as well as infrastructures that are needed to keep people safe and well. However, we have also seen solutions that leverage advances in novel manufacturing methods and supply chain improvements that have validated new ways of delivering healthcare. If we are to build back fairer, then we need to ensure future medical supply chains are robust and services are accessible to all even when delivered remotely.

This Special Issue of International Journal of Environment Research and Public Health seeks to learn from innovative approaches to inclusion and sustainability that have been accelerated by or originated from the COVID-19 crisis. Papers addressing how the pandemic has affected marginalized communities in accessing healthcare and how novel approaches have been trialed to increase the inclusion and/or sustainability of solutions are invited for consideration. We welcome papers focused on subjects adjacent to healthcare technology, such as those that address demand by reducing stigma or novel approaches to ensure inclusion (e.g., campaigns) and sustainability (e.g., local production of assistive technology).

Guested edited by GDI Hub's Prof. Catherine Holloway and Dr. Mikaela Patrick.

• Utilization of Mind–Body Intervention for Integrative Health Care of COVID-19 Patients and Survivors. Recent findings suggest a correlation between COVID-19 and diabetes, although the underlying causes are still little understood. COVID-19 infection tends to induce severe symptoms in patients with underlying diabetes, increasing their mortality rate. Moreover, COVID-19 itself appears to be a diabetogenic factor. In addition, mental health conditions, such as depression due to lockdown and anxiety about infection, were found to affect glycemic control and immunity, highlighting the importance of mental health care during the pandemic.