Psychiatric Patient Advocate Office - Bureau de l'intervention en faveur des patients des établissements psychiatriques

   About Us




   Promoting
   Patients'
   Rights


Mission, Vision, Mandate and Values

Mission
We protect and promote the rights and entitlements of Ontarians with mental illness through advocacy, rights advice and education.

Vision
We envision a society where the rights of all individuals regardless of mental illness or disability are respected, protected and realized.

Mandate 

  • To advance the legal and civil rights of patients by means of both individual case work and systemic advocacy;
  • To inform the patient, family, hospital staff, and the community about patients' legal and civil rights;
  • To assist, facilitate (self-advocacy), and help resolve the complaints made by psychiatric patients by providing an avenue for resolution through negotiation according to the patient's instructions;
  • To investigate alleged incidents and to assess institutional and systemic responses to these instances;
  • To refer patients, when necessary, to outside community advocacy resources such as community organizations, lawyers, or physicians who may offer a second opinion.

Values
As champions of consumer rights, we believe:

  • people can and do recover from mental illness
  • people have the right to pursue personally defined goals for recovery and well-being
  • advocacy and rights protection play vital roles in recovery and continued health and well-being
  • advocacy is most effective when it is independent and free from actual or perceived conflicts of interest
  • people can function and live in the communities of their choice with adequate supports and services
  • people have the right to access effective services which are both needed and wanted
  • consultation with consumers is essential to building responsive and effective services
  • people have the right to information that is necessary to make informed choices
  • people have the right to be involved in all decisions affecting their care, treatment and lives.

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