A Relational Model of Medicine and Wellbeing
Research Focus
We advocate for a relational model of wellbeing based on Anangu law, challenging the standard medical focus on individual intervention. Rather than viewing health as a service delivered to a body, it defines wellness as coherence across the domains of family, Country, and spirit. Within this framework, trauma and illness are reframed as the natural consequences of disconnection from one’s community and land rather than internal pathologies. We argue that while modern medicine provides essential acute care, it cannot substitute for the foundational necessity of belonging. Ultimately, we suggest that true healing requires restoring relationships and fulfilling custodial responsibilities that exist beyond the reach of clinical systems.
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Health as Belonging
Proposes belonging as a measurable predictor of physical and mental health outcomes.
