This was a great reason to party, and a great event!
For 30 years, the Psychiatric Patient Advocate Office (http://www.ppao.gov.on.ca , 416-327-7000 / 1-800-578-2343) has been doing incredible work for and on behalf of clients with mental health issues across Ontario. Every year, over 35,000 psychiatric in-patients receive in-person rights advice from the PPAO, ensuring their awareness of health care consent rights, guardianships, community treatment options and privacy rights. About 3,000 of these consults trigger an application to Legal Aid Ontario for the retainer of legal advocacy services. Additionally, the PPAO has 12 full-time patient advocates who ensure that thousands of in-patient clients have an active and empowered voice in their care at the major mental health facilities like CAMH in Toronto and the Waypoint Centre in Penetanguishene. Their work is important; a 2008 coroner’s inquest recommended that the PPAO’s mandate should be expanded to provide advocacy for all adult mental health patients in Ontario (http://www.empowermentcouncil.ca/PDF/Jeffery%20James%20Inquest.pdf).
Much of the values and impact of the PPAO are best found in the stories shared in their 25th Anniversary Report “Honouring the Past, Shaping the Future: 25 Years of Progress in Mental Health Advocacy and Rights Protection” ( http://www.sse.gov.on.ca/mohltc/ppao/en/Documents/pub-ann-25.pdf) .
