Research and Policy in Health Humanities and Creative Health
Date: 29th October, 2026
Engaging with policymaking processes provides advocates of creative health and health humanities with a route to changing how these fields are understood, funded and delivered.
At NCCH, we believe that when people from across research, practice and communities all understand what policy engagement entails, they can make informed decisions about whether and how to get involved, so that policy is shaped by a broader and more equitable range of voices.
Resources
In our efforts to support the fields of creative health and health humanities to better connect with policymaking, we have developed a series of resources:
An Introduction to Government Decision-Makers
How to Create a Select Committee Evidence Submission
How to Create a Research Briefing or Policy Briefing
Top Tips for Presenting at an APPG Roundtable
Research Funding at a Glance: A quick guide for early career researchers (ECRs) from creative health and health humanities
Theatre as a Route to Policymaking
An Introduction to Hosting a Long Table
Papers and reports on policymaking across health humanities, creative health, culture, health and social care
These resources have been developed by Dr Jane Hearst, Research and Policy Manager at the National Centre for Creative Health, in partnership with the Mobilising Community Assets to Tackle Health Inequalities programme, and Dr Jade Elizabeth French, Leverhulme Early Career Fellow, Loughborough University.
Research and Policy Event: On Demand
These resources were created to accompany Research & Policy in Health Humanities & Creative Health, an online event hosted by the National Centre for Creative Health, which took place on 29th October 2026.
Chaired by Dr Jade Elizabeth French and featuring insights from Dr Jane Hearst, the event opened with a panel discussion bringing together perspectives from research, practice and local government:
- Professor Bertha Ochieng, Professor of Integrated Health and Social Care, De Montfort University
- Jeremy Kimmel, Heritage and Engagement Director, Amelia Scott – Tunbridge Wells Council
- Charlotte Miller, Co-Founder of Intergenerational England and Intergenerational Music Making
The panel was followed by a series of 'next steps' flash talks from:
- Dr Alice Lilly, Senior Researcher, Institute for Government
- Laura Bea, Head of Membership and Network Development, Universities Policy Engagement Network (UPEN)
- Professor Helen McCabe, Thematic Research Lead for the Arts and Humanities, UK Parliament
- Dr Rachel Marsden, Research Fellow in Creative-Public Health (NIHR SPHR Transdisciplinary Fellowship), University of Birmingham
- Dr Joseph Owen, Senior Research Fellow (AHRC-funded Local Government Association Fellowship), University of Southampton
Event agenda and speaker biographies
Download
An event recording will be added to this page in due course, along with a list of resources shared by our participants and attendees.
Thank you for your patience as we process both files.