Researchers/Funders

Dr. Waegemakers Schiff is a Professor at the University of Calgary in the Faculty of Social Work. She holds a PhD and M. Phil. (Columbia University) and a MSW (University of Toronto). Her research spans clinical and organizational issues, primarily focused on trauma, mental health and addictions, homelessness; program evaluation; curriculum development in working with homeless people and interprofessional practice in mental health and addictions. Her current research focuses on understanding the psychosocial stressors and needs of frontline workers and the impact of traumatic stress on staff working in homeless services. She has previously completed extensive work on various aspects of homelessness and services delivery and has written a book on practice in the homeless sector for frontline workers. Her future goal is to expand understanding of the ways that organizations and individuals can mitigate the effects of exposure to work-related trauma.

Deborah Scharf, PhD, CPsych (University of Pittsburgh, 2009) is a clinical and health psychologist and an Associate Professor of Psychology at Lakehead University. Dr. Scharf researches mental health and addiction delivery systems, finance, and policy. Her focus is on integrating mental health and addiction care with general medical services for complex populations such as adults with serious mental illness and multiple chronic conditions, injured workers, and military personnel and veterans. Dr. Scharf has additional interests in innovations in vivo electronic data capture and cannabis culture. Her academic background in tobacco research. Prior to joining Lakehead University, Dr. Scharf was a Behavioral and Social Scientist at the RAND Corporation and Core Faculty member of the RAND Pardee Graduate School.

Dr. Rebecca Schiff is a transdisciplinary researcher with grounding in sustainability studies, public health, social work, community development, geography, and justice studies. Her research focuses on determinants of community wellbeing, social service systems, and social aspects of sustainability, with an emphasis on community – engaged methodologies, community co – generation of knowledge, and integrated knowledge translation. For over a decade, Rebecca has been an active researcher and advocate on housing and homelessness issues. She has published extensively in this area and currently leads research nodes for the Community Housing Canada and At Home in the North Partnerships.

Randy Hatfield has served as the Executive Director of the Saint John Human Development Council, a local social planning council, since 2002. He is an advocate for social and economic inclusion and sits on a number of local Boards, including the Community Living Board, Teen Resource Centre and Women’s Empowerment Network. Randy holds a Bachelor’s degree in economics and political science from the University of New Brunswick in Saint John, a Master’s degree in political science from the University of Alberta and a law degree from the University of New Brunswick.

For the last 20 years, I have dedicated my career to working with homeless and marginalized population’s gain access to affordable housing. As a housing practitioner, I am confronted daily with substandard housing that has been made affordable via municipal and federal subsidies, often utilized by low-income and marginalized individuals. 

As an educator, I am committed to bringing lived experience to my teaching curriculum while ensuring students remain engaged and passionate about social justice and equity.  

More importantly, I remain dedicated to Frontline staff having access to adequate self-care tools and supports. I remain a strong champion for staff-centered supports. 

Curious link to the Author of Behind the Frontline

https://www.amazon.ca/Behind-Frontline-Alana-Jones/dp/1927020018

Stephanie Campbell is a Ph.D. student in Clinical Psychology at Lakehead University. She is the coordinator for this research project and has been responsible for organizing and managing data collection across the different sites. Throughout her training, Stephanie has held several roles at Lakehead University including research assistant, contract lecturer and Psi Chi president. Her research interests centralize around promoting healthy behaviour and community.