Paper short abstract:

Deprived of the ability to give and receive kin-care due to the disruption of relocation for life-saving treatment, Aboriginal dialysis patients in Central Australia draw on multiple, adaptive forms of care, including Christianity, in pursuit of wellbeing and connection.

Paper long abstract:

Christianity is deeply entwined with the colonial projects of dispossession and assimilation in a place like Australia, and as such it is often viewed as being at odds with Indigenous peoples’ ideas of wellbeing. In apparent conflict with this framing, however, many Anangu and Yapa dialysis patients in Central Australia identify Christian beliefs, practices, and support networks as a major source of strength in maintaining a sense of wellbeing when experiencing kidney failure. Most dialysis patients in Central Australia are from remote Aboriginal communities. Upon diagnosis, they must make the difficult decision to relocate hundreds of kilometres away from their country and kin to access dialysis treatment. Centring Anangu and Yapa accounts, in this paper we investigate how patients maintain wellbeing in spite of major disruption to the relational fabric of their lives. We explore how dislocated patients are able to care and be cared for in several new ways: with kin; through an Aboriginal community-controlled health service; and the social networks and spiritual care found in Christianity. In particular, we examine how patients engage with and reappropriate Christianity, as a way of recreating culturally specific ways of holding and being held. Ultimately, we find that drawing on such diverse and adaptive forms of care provides patients with a sense of support and hope, where biomedicine stops short.