You Won't Believe How ASU Health is Revolutionizing Patient Care—The Shocking Truth Behind Humanities!

Arizona State University's ASU Health is pursuing an ambitious mission: to redefine health care and cultivate a new breed of health professionals. This initiative is anchored by four academic units, which include two newly established programs: the John Shufeldt School of Medicine and Medical Engineering and the School of Technology for Public Health. These institutions complement the existing Edson College of Nursing and Health Innovation and the College of Health Solutions, collectively laying the educational groundwork for ASU Health.

ASU Health is not just about education; it is also fostering research and community engagement through initiatives like the Health Observatory. This project builds upon ASU’s partnership with the Mayo Clinic to enhance our understanding of community health challenges in Arizona. Additionally, the Medical Master’s Institute is designed to provide ongoing training opportunities for health professionals and medical students in critical fields such as pediatrics, gerontology, advanced nursing, and nutrition.

In the third part of a five-part series, ASU highlights the intersection of humanities and medical care through an interview with Cora Fox, the associate dean of health humanities at the John Shufeldt School of Medicine and Medical Engineering. Fox elaborates on how the humanities can enrich health care education and practice.

“There was a lot of interest in the health humanities among the faculty as a developing sub-discipline that seemed to offer different perspectives on the challenges to health care,” Fox remarked about the Health Humanities Initiative, which she co-founded in 2014. “We’re thinking hard about how the humanities can come into ASU Health and establish an infrastructure for this really interesting disciplinary work.”

So, what exactly is health humanities? According to Fox, it is an interdisciplinary academic sub-discipline that initially began within medical schools. It positions the humanities as a crucial component in training health professionals, particularly physicians. However, its scope has expanded significantly. “We begin to think about health as something that also takes place in communities and can also be benefited by humanities work,” Fox explained. This marks a shift from a clinical-only focus to a broader view of health that encompasses community well-being.

Fox also provided examples of how humanities can integrate into health care beyond the confines of a doctor’s office. One of the most compelling methods is through storytelling, which can be a powerful tool for promoting health in communities. “Telling stories about the history of where we are in our health care landscape and what the challenges are can significantly influence how we frame health care in the United States,” she noted. Moreover, humanities faculty specializing in fields like ethics and philosophy can engage in critical dialogues about emerging technologies, such as AI in remote healthcare, to ensure that ethical considerations are at the forefront of innovation.

When asked about the curriculum and teaching within ASU Health, Fox elaborated on the collaborative spirit among faculty who are already engaged in this work. “We’d like to create a center that might give us a place to bring some of these conversations to life and ensure they have sustainability, allowing collaborations with our community partners,” she stated. The goal is to make health humanities accessible to undergraduate students, thereby enriching the educational experience for all health profession schools within ASU Health.

“We want to create a community of practice where we talk through the nuances of what care is—what is it fundamentally, and how does it work best?” Fox emphasized.

One of the innovative ideas under consideration is a patient story project. This initiative aims to refocus the essential relationship between patients and clinicians amid rapid technological changes in health care. It offers a platform for physicians to view their patients in a more holistic, humane manner. Fox added that the center would also explore the complexities surrounding patient care as new technologies, like ambient AI, transform health care landscapes.

Additionally, Fox highlighted the importance of broadening the scope of bioethics. “We want to think about ethics and bioethics in terms of values, virtues, and virtuous behavior,” she stated. This approach aims to include discussions on environmental ethics, disability studies, and public health ethics, all of which are critical in navigating the increasingly complicated terrain of health care.

Ultimately, the vision for health humanities at ASU Health is to ensure that patient health outcomes are prioritized while also recognizing the individual’s role within their community. “We’ve widened it out to call it health humanities instead of just medical,” Fox concluded. “It’s the patient and the community at the center of what we are doing within health care.”

Learn more in our 5-part ASU Health series