Dr. Shelley Doucet was awarded the Innovation in Academia and Research Award at the 2024 InnovateNB Awards. InnovateNB is an annual celebration of innovators and their outstanding contributions to New Brunswick’s technology and innovation ecosystem.
Dr. Shelley Doucet and her team’s research is transforming the way we think about healthcare delivery for individuals with complex care needs, those who require support from multiple providers and services across sectors. She is the Founder and Director of the Centre for Research in Integrated Care (CRIC) at the University of New Brunswick, a living laboratory where researchers, clinicians, decision makers, trainees, and patient partners work side-by-side to improve care for patients.
CRIC's core focus is to generate evidence while driving real-world improvements in how healthcare is delivered. Their research is co-designed with patients, providers, and decision makers ensuring that solutions are practical and effective. The Centre embodies a collaborative, interdisciplinary approach to tackling health service delivery problems and developing solutions that work for New Brunswickers. This approach has helped secure over $85 million in research funding. CRIC has improved access and care coordination by embedding patient navigators within primary care settings. Patient navigators help individuals, such as children and youth with complex care needs or people living with dementia, access care and coordinate with the health and social services they need. CRIC has also led case management initiatives across Canada, supported by $2 million from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research and more than $80 million in in-kind support to expand the model in Quebec and New Brunswick. Case managers help individuals access the care they need by developing and coordinating a personalized care plan in collaboration with the person, their family, and a team of providers.
These patient navigation and case management programs were developed in close collaboration with patient partners, clinicians, and healthcare authorities. They are designed to meet the real-world needs of both patients and the broader healthcare system. As a result, they help improve the quality of life for New Brunswickers living with complex care needs while also reducing hospitalizations and emergency room visits.
From Practice to Purpose: The Roots of CRIC
Dr. Shelley Doucet’s journey in healthcare began as a registered nurse. Early on, she found herself asking critical questions about healthcare delivery. Her passion for evidence-based practice led her into postgraduate education, and ultimately, into a career in research.
“It became clear to me that if we want to improve care for individuals with complex care needs, we need to build evidence-based, integrated teams around them”, explains Dr. Shelley Doucet.
In 2018, she founded the Centre for Research in Integrated Care (CRIC) at the University of New Brunswick. The Centre has since grown into a vibrant research hub, employing over 60 workers over time, supervising more than 100 student projects, and creating one of the most collaborative and interdisciplinary healthcare research teams in Atlantic Canada. Dr. Alison Luke, a Research Associate with CRIC, has been instrumental to this work. A close collaborator for over a decade, she co-leads projects with Dr. Doucet and co-supervises all their trainees, playing a key role in advancing CRIC’s mission.
CRIC’s research is being used in policy and practice, their team having published over 100 manuscripts and given more than 425 presentations. CRIC has partnered with national and international projects, including the Canadian Primary Care Research Network (CPCRN) and the OECD PaRIS project. These collaborations focus on improving primary care integration, establishing practice-based research and learning networks, and advancing research in areas like nurse practitioner clinics, cancer support, and the use of AI in healthcare. Beyond research, CRIC builds capacity through national conferences, like the Canadian Healthcare Navigation Conference, and local knowledge-sharing groups like QUEST. Innovative events such as The Patients’ Den and various workshops help train and connect researchers, clinicians, decision makers, trainees and patient partners, strengthening New Brunswick’s health research ecosystem.
Advice to Aspiring Innovators
Dr. Shelley Doucet believes real change happens through collaboration. She highlights the importance of bringing together people from different backgrounds, experiences, and perspectives to solve complex problems. In her view, the best ideas come when researchers, practitioners, and communities work together to find solutions. She encourages aspiring innovators to start by listening, especially to those who work within the system.
“I think the most impactful innovations come from those who are living and working within the system every day,” says Dr. Shelley Doucet. “If we want to create real change, it needs to be guided by the people who are on the ground.”
CRIC has been building strong partnerships with government to establish practice-based research and learning networks, bringing together primary care practices focused on research, quality improvement, and data sharing. Looking ahead, Dr. Shelley Doucet plans to implement patient navigation and case management models in 13 New Brunswick primary care clinics over the next year, with the aim of expanding it province-wide in the coming years.
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To learn more about the Centre for Research in Integrated Care, visit their website.