About

1. Who We Are:  

Led by Director, Dr. Katie Aubrecht, the Spatializing Care Lab connects and crosses disciplinary and sectoral boundaries, bridging medical, social and cultural approaches to mental health care. Dr. Aubrecht is an Associate Professor in the Department of Sociology and Canada Research Chair Health Equity and Social Justice at St. Francis Xavier (St.F.X.) University in Antigonish, Nova Scotia. Her research program analyzes marginality and mental health, rurality and resilience across the life span as health equity and social justice issues. 

See more information on Dr. Aubrecht’s qualifications, course offerings, and publications.

The Spatializing Care Lab benefits greatly from the contributions of an extensive network of knowledge users who are committed to incorporating the best evidence into practice, collaborating investigators, and undergraduate and graduate trainees from across Nova Scotia.  

Learn more about our collaborators, partners, and funders. 

Learn more about our students and health research trainees.  

2. What We Do:  

The lab is home to a participatory arts-informed health research infrastructure that supports and enhances meaningful and ethical community engagement. Projects focus on structures and conditions that influence mental health and wellness inequities and disparities. 

The lab models accessible and inclusive research practice, training and mentorship. We provide opportunities to engage with the research process, develop skills, and share experiential insights. 

Learn more about research engagement and capacity building opportunities.

3. Our Approach:   

The Spatializing Care Lab takes a collaborative approach, seeking input from all relevant stakeholders, including knowledge users and people with lived experience.  

We employ an intersectional lens and seek to understand program or policy's impact on health inequities and/or disadvantaged populations. For health equity resources, see the National Collaborating Centre on Determinants of Health Resource Library.