Professor Candice Satchwell among the national nominees
An academic from the University of Central Lancashire (UCLan) has been shortlisted for the Health Humanities Medal, a new national award led by the Arts and Humanities Research Council in association with the Wellcome Trust.
Professor Candice Satchwell is one of five academics who has made the shortlist for the Inspiration Award category, which recognises and celebrates health humanities research which is closely aligned with community groups or has led to significant changes and benefits to the community as a whole. The Health Humanities Medal comprises five categories designed to celebrate the achievements of those who have helped to inform and transform the health and wellbeing of the nation through the use of arts and humanities research.
Nearly 100 nominations were received for the first ever Health Humanities Medal covering a diverse range of subjects ranging from dementia to music and psychology.
Professor Satchwell said: “It is wonderful to have this recognition of the collaborative work we have been doing with young researchers from the Centre for Children and Young People’s Participation at UCLan.
“Stories2Connect has been collecting the stories of disadvantaged and disabled young people across the region, and reproducing them as fictional stories, told through printed books and innovative digital designs. I am so excited to have been nominated, but the project is absolutely a team effort.”
"It is wonderful to have this recognition of the collaborative work we have been doing with young researchers from the Centre for Children and Young People’s Participation at UCLan."
Professor Nicola Shaughnessy, School of Arts at the University of Kent, chaired the first panel and said: “It was great to be chairing something completely new and getting the opportunity to read through all the applications.
“The applications consistently showed evidence of high impact, demonstrating how research in health humanities is changing lives and influencing policymakers.”
The projects that have been shortlisted, all of which are grounded in arts and humanities research, include schemes with older people at risk of social isolation, with people experiencing psychosis and mental distress, and schemes which use stories, music and dance to break down social exclusion.
Professor Edward Harcourt, Director of Research, Strategy and Innovation at the AHRC said: “We are delighted to be supporting these new awards. The AHRC has always seen the importance of backing the health humanities. We were struck by the exceptional quality of the applications, which express a more inclusive vision of health and wellbeing and how to achieve it in ways that are not driven by medical science alone.”
Awards will be given in five categories designed to showcase the best research, impact and leadership during a special awards ceremony at the House of Commons on 11 September, and from these there will be an overall winner who will receive the Health Humanities Medal. You’ll be able to follow the fortunes of the shortlist on Twitter via the hashtag #HealthHumanitiesMedal
