Cultural Contexts of Health

Led by: Professor Mark Jackson and Dr Felicity Thomas

The Centre for Medical History is now officially a World Health Organisation Collaborating Centre on Culture and Health. The Centre for Medical History already constitutes an internationally-recognised hub for humanities scholars exploring the social and cultural determinants of scientific knowledge, clinical practice, and patient experiences in the past and present:

Emerging projects explore:

how lifestyles have affected health and well-being;
how different forms of sexual knowledge have shaped identity and health;
how migration has impacted on health;
experiences and effects of 'waiting times' in health-care;
and the cultural contexts that shape lived experiences of, and responses to, mental illness across time.
With this WHO Collaborating Centre status on Culture and Health, we aim to enhance the generation and impact of qualitative evidence that can help shape, implement and evaluate health policies that are historically informed and culturally sensitive.

For more information about the WHO Collaborating Centre for Culture and Health please visit our project website and blog.