Queen Mary University of London is partnering with Barking and Dagenham Council to pioneer a new approach to health, focusing on relational health to build trust between individuals, communities, and services.

The initiative, presented at a recent Health & Wellbeing Board and ICB Sub-Committee meeting, aims to reconfigure health beyond the mere absence of illness. Three key projects are being explored: early years development, enhancing social prescribing through digital innovation, and reimagining community hospitals.

An illustration depicting a human head profile with a heart inside, symbolizing health and wellbeing.
An illustration depicting a human head profile with a heart inside, symbolizing health and wellbeing.

Dr. Arundi Mahendran, Director of Shape Health at Queen Mary University, explained the partnership's goal is to create an institutional model for health that can be scaled nationally and internationally. This model positions residents as knowledge contributors and redistributes authority to those who use services.

The partnership will focus on building trust and fostering relationships, moving away from a purely clinical definition of health. This approach is expected to address historic health inequalities in the borough in a sustainable and scalable way.

The Queen Mary University of London partnership aims to pioneer a new institutional model which would start here in this borough but would be something that could be transferred to other areas around the country, so a national model, and we also have international partners who are very interested in this kind of relational model of health. The timeline for this development and scaling is indicated as over the next three, five, and ten years. The 'It Starts Here: Partnerships for Change' document is presented as a successor to the Borough Manifesto, adopted in February 2026, and outlines a vision for the borough, implying ongoing development and implementation.

An illustration representing community and care, with stylized figures and a heart symbol.
An illustration representing community and care, with stylized figures and a heart symbol.

The research is intended to be practical, aiming to improve the effectiveness of frontline budgets and provide evidence for future service development. Early years work is already underway at Becketree Primary School, with further projects focusing on digital innovation in social prescribing and redesigning community hospital services.

A young girl embraces a boy in a wheelchair, symbolizing support and care.
A young girl embraces a boy in a wheelchair, symbolizing support and care.