Our
Projects
We conduct a range of research and knowledge translation initiatives designed to improve health and social care services and policy. The research that we do is designed to improve the lives of persons living in poverty and who experience mental illness and substance use disorders in our communities. We conduct all of our research in collaboration with health and social care organizations, researchers, and persons with lived experience. Click on the links here to learn more about our initiatives.
Until recently, homelessness in rural communities has been an underexplored phenomenon. to generate evidence to inform policy and practice, we are exploring the experiences of individuals who struggle to sustain their housing in rural communities in Canada. We are also describing novel approaches for addressing rural homelessness and the experiences of policymakers as they try to address homelessness in small and rural communities.
To work towards a system that prevents ongoing homelessness, there is a need to identify the conditions that not only help people to sustain their housing, but also to thrive in that housing. In this research, we focus on what is needed for a person to sustain their tenancy beyond just avoiding eviction. Outcomes such as community integration, managing the symptoms of mental illness and substance use disorder, and function in daily life are the subject of this line of research.
In this research, we are exploring the use of tiny homes and sleeping cabins as a strategy for managing and addressing homelessness. We take a critical perspective of these approaches, and call for more effectiveness research on tiny homes and sleeping cabins to identify their utility in the landscape of housing and homelessness services.
The Bridging the Transition Framework is a homelessness prevention framework that is grounded in research conducted with persons with lived experience, and scholars with expertise in the area of homelessness. This framework takes the perspective that to prevent ongoing homelessness, that we need to provide skills and resources to individuals, communities, and populations to function and participate in daily life.
The stigma of substance use among persons experiencing homelessness is particularly pronounced in Canadian communities and beyond, and a problem that often prevents leaving homelessness and sustaining a tenancy following homelessness. In this research, we explore how stigma affects individuals who experience homelessness to identify approaches for mitigating this barrier to leaving homelessness and sustaining housing.
Individuals who experience homelessness describe experiences of profound boredom during and following homelessness that has been associated with a range of challenges with psychosocial well-being including hopelessness and suicide ideation. In this research, we explore how boredom emerges across the trajectory of unhoused to housing, and the ways in which it is associated with mental health.
Increasingly, individuals with complex forms of mental illness and substance use disorder are tenants in social housing across Canada. This has represented a change in tenant needs, and challenged social housing providers. This research describes the psychosocial needs of tenants living in social housing, perceptions of community providers, and experiences of social housing agencies.
Methamphetamine use among persons experiencing homelessness has increased significantly in recent years, alongside the growth of the opioid crisis. This research describes the experiences of methamphetamine use during homelessness for persons with lived experience, and the service providers who support them.
