Existential Health and Spiritual Recovery: Two Possible New and Important Concepts in the Health Humanities

Abstract

Purpose: To discuss theoretically the ‘biopsychosocial model’ when relating to more existential and spiritually oriented approaches to health and Health Humanities and to display a new non-therapeutic and philosophical dialogue approach to Art & Health. Method: The article uses a heuristic approach to ponder philosophically on the question: How would a concept of holistic health be conceptualized theoretically if we investigate the perspective of a ‘non-therapy setting’ approach to health humanities from within the dialogical and existential philosophy of Hans-Georg Gadamer and Martin Buber? Findings: Arguments are made for developing a concept of ‘Existential Health’ and ‘Spiritual Recovery,’ when working with the interplay between culture and health, and especially when wanting to focus on the existential and spiritual dimensions of health humanities. This also leads to a new concept of ‘Wonder-and-Phenomenon-centred’ healthcare as something other than ‘Human- and-person-centred’ healthcare. Originality: Such a way of thinking expands the current use of the concept of ‘holistic health’ in health humanities research through a dialogical and existential philosophy approach, and it provides a new concept of wonder-and-phenomenon-centered healthcare, which could give new access to the existential and spiritual dimensions in health humanities.

Keywords

• Heuristic research
• Arts & Health
• Health Humanities
• aesthetical and philosophical wonder
• existential health
• spiritual recovery