Situated in the heart of the Queen Street West neighbourhood, the new community hub is a welcoming, accessible and engaging space for patients and their families to connect - putting people at the center of their own care.
The RBC Patient and Family Learning Space (PFLS) and the new home of the Family Resource Centre (FRC) officially opened their doors with an open house celebration last week.
Designed with the client and family experience at its core, the space is a place where patients, families and people in our community can walk in and talk to CAMH staff to get information about CAMH programs and services, and learn about community-based mental health and addiction/substance use programs. The space will also host educational and community-building events and activities.
Susan Conway, a CAMH Family Advisory Committee member who spoke at the opening event, appreciates patient and family perspectives and expertise being included in care planning and practices at CAMH.
“The patient, family, and youth advisory committees, the patient and family engagement in research, and now the PFLS are all manifestations of CAMH’s commitment to placing patients and their families at the center of health care delivery - where they belong,” Susan explained. The RBC Patient and Family Learning Space’s opening followed years of planning and design by the CAMH patient and family experience and education teams in partnership with CAMH patients and families.
“Knowledge and feeling part of a community is empowering. Educating, supporting and engaging families doesn’t just help families,” Susan points out. “It helps our loved ones and their recovery journey by giving them what they deserve - to be supported by people who understand their struggles and are healthy enough to support them in their journey.” And the RBC Patient and Family Learning Space is set to be a hub of dynamic programming that responds to the emerging educational needs of patients and families, says Morgan Bush, Acting Manager, Patient and Family Experience, CAMH.
“We know from results of the annual Patient and Family Experience Survey that patients want more opportunities to participate in activities of interest and more programming. And with the new space, which includes a new home for CAMH’s family support space, the Family Resource Centre, we have the opportunity to build on our successes with expanded resources and new programming."
