AB080. More than connected: rethinking global health through indigenous relationality

Background: Global health frameworks increasingly acknowledge the interconnections between people, place, and environment, yet often overlook the spiritual, ethical, and values-based dimensions that are central to Indigenous understandings of health. This study examines how Indigenous values conceptualize wholistic health and offer critical insights into dominant global health frameworks.

Methods: This study draws on interviews with 18 Indigenous participants from diverse Nations and geographic regions to explore a set of interrelated Indigenous values that form the foundation of wholistic health from an Indigenous perspective. In this context, health is framed not as an individual state, but as a dynamic, balance across physical, mental, spiritual, and community dimensions, extending to natural and spiritual realms. These values are not treated as isolated concepts, but as interrelated principles that guide relationships, responsibilities, and collective wellbeing over time. Using narrative inquiry and grounded theory, the research contrasts Indigenous perspectives with dominant Western models such as One Health, EcoHealth, and Planetary Health. While these frameworks acknowledge ecological interdependence, they often remain focused on human-centred outcomes and rarely engage with Indigenous ethical systems or expanded definitions of community. The study develops a conceptual model grounded in Indigenous values that redefines community to include human, other-than-human, and spiritual relationships. This relational framing addresses systemic health inequities by centring Indigenous knowledge systems and ethics; it responds to environmental degradation by emphasizing reciprocal responsibilities toward land, water, and other-than-human beings.

Results: The analysis identified a coherent set of interrelated values that together constitute the ethical and epistemological foundation of Indigenous wholistic health. The resulting model illustrates how wellbeing arises from relationships of care and responsibility across human, other-than-human, and spiritual dimensions. The findings call for policies and partnerships that move beyond symbolic inclusion toward meaningful collaboration, power-sharing, and shared ethical foundations.

Conclusions: A shift toward Indigenous values and ethics is necessary to build global health systems that are accountable, ethically grounded, and guided by cultural and ecological integrity.

Keywords: Global health; Indigenous health; Indigenous knowledge systems; relationality; wholistic health