The health humanities reflect the profound and deep connection between the humanities- study of the human condition and understanding the human experience- and healthcare. Why is this connection so significant?
Because bodily health- ease and dis-ease- places people in positions of unique uncertainty, fear, joy. they come to the hospital or doctor's office at their most vulnerable. They share with healthcare providers moments and truths they may not discuss with anyone else: they face life's beginnings and endings, and try to make meaning of why there is suffering, and why they have become sick. The humanities are the way in which people make meaning of living and dying, and everything in between, while narrative and analysis also can help healthcare providers understand what patients are experiencing.