Dr Shelley Doucet named Jarislowsky Chair in Interprofessional Patient-Centred Care
Author: Communications
Posted on Aug 8, 2014
Category: UNB Fredericton , UNB Saint John
The University of New Brunswick is changing the way people look at health-care through the new Jarislowsky Chair in Interprofessional Patient-Centred Care. The chair was announced on July 29 and will be held at UNB Saint John by two-time alumna and assistant professor of the faculty of science, applied science and engineering, Dr. Shelley Doucet (BN’05, PhD’10).
UNB Saint John receives $1 million endowment
The chair was made possible through a $1 million endowment from The Jarislowsky Foundation. Dr. Jarislowsky’s philanthropy has helped establish twenty-six endowed chairs in a variety of disciplines across the country.
“This is not only a unique opportunity to engage in groundbreaking research in the health sciences, but also an opportunity to directly impact the lives of Canadians through better health-care delivery and patient care,” said Dr. Jarislowsky.
Matching the contribution
Two New Brunswick-based organizations also came forward to help establish the chair by matching Dr. Jarislowsky’s contribution. The New Brunswick Health Research Foundation (NBHRF) and the Sir James Dunn Foundation both pledged contributions of $500,000.
“Research and teaching in interprofessional patient-centred care will improve the knowledge in that field resulting in improved primary health-care services for New Brunswickers and better health outcomes,” said Health minister Hugh Flemming.“
Improving patient-centred health-care
As the Jarislowsky Chair, Dr. Doucet will lead an ongoing research initiative aimed at developing and evaluating new interprofessional community-based primary health-care models that are patient-centred.
“Our goal is to initiate broad changes in the way that health care is delivered to patients – to develop new interprofessional practice models that shift the focus away from practitioners and back to patients and their families,” said Dr. Doucet.
Dr. Doucet has attracted national recognition for her award-winning work and is the founder and chair of both the Atlantic and New Brunswick Communities of Practice in Interprofessional Education and Practice.