Health humanities is an interdisciplinaryfield of study that draws on aspects of the arts and humanities in its approach to health care, health and well-being. It involves the application of the creative or fine arts and humanities disciplines to questions of human health and well-being. This applied capacity of the humanities is not itself a novel idea; however, the construct of the health humanities only began to emerge in the first decade of the 21st century. Historically, the roots informing the health humanities can be traced back to, and can now be considered to include, such multidisciplinary areas as the medical humanities and the expressive therapies/creative arts therapies. In the health humanities, health is understood according to the constructivist principles indigenous to the humanities, as opposed to the positivism of science. The health humanities are rooted in dialogical, versus monological perspectives on health. As such, evidence upon which health practices are based is generally considered axiological, versus epistemological, in orientation. The health humanities are not an alternative to the health sciences, but rather offer a contrasting paradigm and pragmatic approach with respect to health and its promotion, and can function in a manner that is complementary to the health sciences. In January 2009, Paul Crawford became the world's first Professor of Health Humanities at the University of Nottingham, and led with Victoria Tischler, Charley Baker, Brian Brown, Lisa Mooney-Smith and Ronald Carter the development of the Arts and Humanities Research Council-funded International Health Humanities Network. Baccalaureate and Masters programs in health humanities have been developed in the US, Canada and UK. In the UK, a Health Humanities Centre was established in 2015 at University College London, dedicated to research and teaching in the health humanities, including a Master of Arts degree in health humanities. In 2020, a Master of Science by Research in Health Humanities and Arts started at The University of Edinburgh. Textbooks on the health humanities include Health Humanities Reader, Health Humanities, Research Methods in Health Humanities, and The Routledge Companion to Health Humanities.
