The Systems Thinking for Health Innovation Lab works in close partnership with the Fredericton Downtown Community Health Centre (FDCHC). For over 15 years, the FDCHC has served as a living laboratory where education, clinical practice, and research converge to improve healthcare for vulnerable populations.
Our lab collaborates with FDCHC clinicians, staff, and community members to model, analyze, and strengthen health and social care processes. Using real-world observations, interviews, and focus groups, we gather rich data to map the complexity of care delivery.
This approach allows us to uncover system barriers, understand how care is truly experienced, and co-develop practical improvements grounded in frontline realities. This partnership fosters mutual learning and innovation.
Nursing students gain immersive, hands-on experience in an integrated care setting, while our research generates actionable insights to inform service redesign and policy development.
All of this takes place in a community health centre that prioritizes dignity, access, and holistic support for individuals experiencing poverty, homelessness, displacement, or structural inequities. Together, we are working to transform care for vulnerable populations by ensuring our research is rooted in lived experience and shaped by the needs of our local community.
The Systems Thinking in Health Innovation Lab, in collaboration with the UNB Faculty of Nursing, is proud to partner with the John Howard Society of Fredericton (JHSF) to advance equitable, community-based healthcare solutions for individuals experiencing homelessness.
Together, we are working to design more integrated systems of care that address the complex intersection of housing, health and social supports.
A central focus of this partnership is the Oak Centre, a supportive housing complex operated by JHSF since July 2021. Located uptown in Fredericton, the Oak Centre provides a safe, welcoming environment for individuals who are currently or formerly homeless.
With 12 rooms dedicated to high-acuity clients, 21 subsidized units supported by NB Housing, and a 30-bed housing-focused shelter, the Oak Centre fosters stability, connection and healing.
In addition to housing, all residents have access to wraparound supports that help promote long-term wellness and recovery.
This partnership allows nursing faculty and students to engage directly with frontline housing and health services, contributing to systems-level research, service evaluation and co-designed interventions.
By combining academic insight with lived experience and community expertise, we are building innovative care models that respond more effectively to the needs of vulnerable populations in Fredericton and beyond.
