The Michael Smith Health Research BC Research Trainee awards support emerging researchers to build their careers and help drive discoveries that improve the health of people and communities.
On any given day, Dr. Laura Labonté's office may be in a shelter, single-room occupancy space or modular housing unit. Unlike most psychiatrists, her clients don’t typically book appointments; she has to find them.
A psychiatrist with Surrey’s Intensive Case Management Team and the Surrey Delta Assertive Community Treatment Team, Dr. Labonté is passionate about working with hard-to-reach individuals who have complex health issues, including those who are unhoused or precariously housed.
“Some of the people we see are so vulnerable and constantly transient. This puts them in a perpetual cycle of relapsing and losing all of the stability they have acquired in their life,” says Dr. Labonté. Conventional treatment doesn’t often work because you can’t provide daily medication to someone when you can’t find them for days at a time.”
On October 29, 2024, Dr. Labonté received the Michael Smith Health Research BC Research Trainee award, which will allow her dedicated time for research. She will start off by working with Dr. William Honer at the University of British Columbia on the existing Hotel Study, for which he is the lead investigator. This study was designed to examine the intersection of physical and mental health in relation to drug addiction and public health issues in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside. She will then embark on carrying out the first longitudinal study in Fraser Health aimed at better understanding and supporting some of the most vulnerable people in our region. Ultimately, the research aims to recommend ways of keeping people stable, housed and engaged with their care teams.
A recent graduate of UBC’s Department of Psychiatry Research-Track and Fraser Health residency programs, Dr. Labonté didn’t set out to be a psychiatrist.
“I never would have guessed I would be in psychiatry,” she says. “I was going the internal medicine route but I fell in love with psychiatry and the stories of the people I met. It’s such a privilege when you get to know them and see their challenges and often, the very difficult life stories they’ve struggled with. For me, making a connection when others can’t, is so rewarding.“
“Research that meets people where they are at often leads to better health services and patient outcomes,” says Kate Keetch, director, Department of Evaluation and Research Services, Fraser Health. “Dr. Labonté is charting new territory and I can’t wait to see where this research goes. Congratulations Dr. Labonté.”