In late 2020, The Royal embarked on a journey to transform mental health care both locally and around the globe by leveraging one of our most powerful assets: our clients and their loved ones. Together, we developed our 2020-2025 strategy, Co-creating access, hope and new possibilities, to fully unleash the potential and power of The Royal. A key tenet of this strategy is the deep and intentional integration of lived expertise of our clients and their families. This means ensuring clients and families sit at key decision-making tables at The Royal.
The centering of client and family voices is already having a tremendous impact on all areas of The Royal’s expertise including, but not limited to, innovative research and the development of unique and personalized treatments, digital health transformation, client care and support at all stages of the continuum. This shift, while delivering results in key areas of care, education and research, is also furthering The Royal’s commitment to becoming a national leader in client and family engagement.
An important partner in this journey is The Royal’s Family Advisory Council. The Family Advisory Council was formed in 2006 to serve as the voice of families at The Royal. Members of the Family Advisory Council represent a collection of family members, friends, and loved ones who are supporting individuals through their mental health journey, either through care from The Royal or elsewhere.
“Over the past year, family advisors have had the opportunity to engage with The Royal to shape care on so many fronts influencing direct care, client safety, capturing client and family needs, staff education, family engagement research, and policy touching client and family care experiences,” Michèle Langlois, chair of The Royal’s Family Advisory Council, said. “The Royal's commitment, at every level of the organization to engage clients and families, is evident; so much so, that the need for advisors is outpacing current capacity. The time is ripe for supporters of loved ones with mental and substance use health issues to step forward to lend your diverse voice and talents to help us actualize The Royal's client and family-focused strategy.”
Today, we are at the exciting stage of bringing this strategy and vision to life by capitalizing on our strengths and making necessary changes to provide a client experience that is wrapped around each individual’s needs. If you are interested in learning more about the Family Advisory Council or interested in joining the council, please contact fac@theroyal.ca or visit https://www.theroyal.ca/patient-care-information/family-caregivers/family-advisory-council.
It’s important to note that The Royal’s donors serve a vital role in The Royal’s evolution serving as partners to shape care, education, and research in the mental health and substance use space. Your unwavering support strengthens our ability to make a difference for thousands of individuals with mental illness and substance use disorders in our region and their loved ones.