Wellbeing Essentials: A framework for living well with chronic disease

By Jeff Dunn & Suzanne Chambers

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People diagnosed with a chronic disease face challenges navigating an often complex health care system that can lead to a sense of powerlessness, and alongside this less-than-optimal health outcomes. A framework to guide care in this context is essential. The Wellbeing Essentials Framework connects wellbeing with practical strategies to enhance personal agency and improve quality of life.

About the Authors

Professor Jeff Dunn AO and Suzanne Chambers AO have dedicated their careers to caring for the patient and encouraging policymakers, practitioners, and researchers to do the same — to consider the patient and not just the disease. As our horizon of knowledge expands, the quest for quality of life rises to stand alongside the preservation of life itself. Each, in different but connected ways, has pursued the goal of ensuring health and medical science bring measurable benefits to the lives of individuals, their families and communities. At the core of what they do is the philosophy of person and family centred and driven care, directly connected to best practice and an evidence base. Professor Chambers is a health psychologist and registered nurse who has been working as a practitioner-researcher in psycho-oncology for over 30 years. She was awarded her PhD in 2004 within the School of Psychology at Griffith University and has over 300 peer-reviewed publications and numerous books, book chapters and monographs. Her work has focussed on developing models to predict help-seeking and adjustment after cancer: designing remote access psychological interventions for people affected by cancer, integrating peer support into controlled design methodologies, and integrating distress screening into interventions to target high-distress cancer patient groups. Professor Chambers was appointed an Officer in the General Division of the Order of Australia (AO) in 2018 for distinguished service to medical research, particularly in the area of psycho-oncology and to community health through patient care strategies to assist men with prostate cancer. She is an Honorary Fellow with St Vincent’s Health Network Sydney. Professor Chambers is Executive Dean of the Faculty of Health Sciences at the Australian Catholic University and an adjunct Professor at the University of Southern Queensland. Professor Jeff Dunn AO is a recognised World Cancer Leader and past President of the Union for International Cancer Control (UICC). His work in cancer control spans 30 years, during which time he has dedicated his career to developing strategies that underpin cancer survival and improve awareness of the disease. The Union for International Cancer Control represents the world’s major cancer societies, ministries of health, and patient groups, and includes influential policymakers, researchers and experts in cancer prevention and control with a membership base of over 1200 organisations in 172 countries.

ISBN 9781923114043

Released April 2025