Adult Psychiatry Patient Family Partnership Council (PFPC)
Who are Patient Family Partners?
Our council needs diverse perspectives so that it can fully represent our patients’ varied healthcare issues, diagnoses and cultures. Adult Psychiatry Patient and Family Partners are patients or loved ones of patients who either have:
- Received past care through UH’s Adult Inpatient Psychiatry Services Department, Intensive Outpatient Program (IOP) or outpatient services
- Are currently receiving care through UH’s IOP or outpatient services
Patients’ family and loved-ones include spouses, partners, parents, children and close friends.
To learn more about being a Patient Family Partner or to apply, call the office of Patient and Family Engagement at 216-844-3370 or email PartnershipCouncils@UHHospitals.org.
Our Mission
Our mission is to improve the experience of patients with psychiatric and behavioral health disorders and their families, through education, understanding and communication in collaboration with healthcare professionals. Our vision is to empower patients and families to be active and equal participants in the patient’s recovery.
Our Goals
Our goals include the following:
- Build awareness and understanding of mental illness and care
- Enhance quality of care
- Provide long term and lifelong resources to patients, families and friends
- Provide information on sound alternative treatments and therapies
- Improve portability and access to care
- Maximize quality of life for both patients and families
A Message From Our Leaders: Stephen Ruedrich, MD, and Lori Locke, MSN, RN
Communication is vital to the successful recovery and support of our patients. It is equally vital to ensuring that our service and our promise to you is of the highest quality. The patients and families serving on the Psychiatry Patient and Family Partnership Council (PFPC) have provided extremely valuable contributions of ideas and feedback to multiple current hospital initiatives. We are excited to be expanding the council’s focus from exclusively inpatient to include the Intensive Outpatient Program and outpatient services and to be collaborating with patients and families from these areas. As clinicians, we continuously learn from our PFPC and look forward to our continued partnership into the future.
What Our Members are Saying
“As a past psychiatric inpatient and IOP participant and current outpatient, I have found the opportunity to improve the care for other patients to be rewarding and empowering. My voice is being heard and opinions taken seriously. I have seen the PFPC address a wide range of patient and family member concerns and our solutions put into action.”
Patient PFPC Member
“Our adult daughter has received intermittent psychiatric care from University Hospitals since an early age. She is now healthy and happy. There is hope. We have always been strong advocates for her access to facilities, treatments, comfort and safety. We feel fortunate to be members of PFPC where we can share our experiences and perspective and offer suggestions to improve access and quality care for all patients.”
Family PFPC Members
“I’ve been a member of this PFPC since its inception. It was an honor to be asked by my manager to join a council of past patients, family members and mental health staff. This PFPC has provided me an opportunity to hear recommendations from those who matter most – the individuals receiving our care and the loved ones supporting them.”
UH Psychiatry Services Staff Member
The UH Adult Psychiatry Patient Family Partnership Council needs your voice. You have first-hand information and perspectives that can help other psychiatry patients and their families. To learn more about being a Patient Family Partner or to apply, call the office of Patient and Family Engagement at 216-844-3370 or email PartnershipCouncils@UHHospitals.org.