About Us

The Institute for Better Health, part of Trillium Health Partners, generates and applies data, evidence, and knowledge to understand, anticipate, and respond to the evolving needs of the community and drive real-time impact and health system excellence.

Founded in 2014 by a team of change-makers at Trillium Health Partners, the Institute for Better Health was created with a bold yet simple vision to lead the coalition for better health. From the beginning, we have done this through the application of best-in-class research and innovation to cure the health care system. At the Institute for Better Health, we are driven by a relentless curiosity and a deep commitment to collaboration for real-time results and impact. We push the boundaries of traditional research and innovation to create meaningful, sustainable solutions in partnership with the community.

Health systems are under immense pressure. An aging population, growing health and medical complexities, widening inequities and persistent capacity challenges demand immediate and lasting change. At the Institute for Better Health, we meet these challenges head-on, by moving knowledge into action and co-designing solutions with care teams, patients, caregivers and community partners to create better health

We know that a healthier tomorrow is possible. By staying community-connected and focused on impact, we are building a future where our community becomes a global beacon for better health.

This is how we cure health care and create a healthier world – together.

Focused on generating cutting-edge science and innovation in health service delivery and population health, IBH leads practical research and innovation that shapes how we engage, design, deliver, and finance health care to solve problems stretching from the bedside to the system. IBH research seeks a deeper understanding of the nature of health and social problems in our community and to shape transformative innovations by working with our patients, providers, staff, and community members. IBH supports research conducted by frontline providers and seeks to foster a culture of innovation by the people who work here and across the system. IBH also partners with our community, working alongside academic, not-for-profit, industry, and systems partners in the pursuit of improving health through research and innovation.

We recognize that most health care is provided everyday by patients and families themselves with guidance from care teams, and we need ways to engage, equip, and support patients and families as active participants in developing solutions across their care journeys. We also understand that not all patients are the same and aspire to create an inclusive research and innovation environment that reflects a diversity of age, sex, socioeconomic status, and cultural background. We also recognize that the best ideas, both incremental changes as well as disruptive ones, often generate from health care providers and their insights in working with our patients’ every day. The diversity of our community and the strength of our people and partners provides us with an unparalleled opportunity to create a “living laboratory” to actively explore the fields of population health, health services, and systems research and innovation. The insights developed through our research and innovation activities are aimed at building a better system of care that leaves no one behind, co-designed by the community members who rely on it and the people who work within it.

Values and Principles

IBH scientists, innovators, staff and volunteers are committed to enabling, producing and sharing meaningful research and innovation through our organization’s values of compassion, excellence and courage.

COMPASSION
through deliberate inclusion of patients, families,
providers and community members in our work

EXCELLENCE
in applying scientific evidence, human centered
co-design, and evaluation

COURAGE
to think differently – dream, create, plan, try,
fail, succeed, improve, and share

Research at the Institute for Better Health

In order to build expertise and competitive advantage in the Canadian research ecosystem, IBH will build research programs within 4 primary themes.

Implementation and Evaluation
Science

Research aimed at implementing and evaluating novel approaches to rapid cycle improvements in health system organization, delivery and financing.

Patient and Family Centred Care_v2290x194

Patient and Family
Centered Care

Research and innovation that positions patients and families at the centre of the learning process, as partners in the discovery process, and aims to evaluate and improve the patient and family experience.

Innovative Care Models in an
Interconnected System

Research and innovation that contributes practical, evidence-informed strategies for change that improves the quality of patient care, transcending boundaries between place and type of care and across the system.