Meet Rachel Hudson: Championing patient and family voices in mental health care
Rachel Hudson believes some of the most powerful insights and important voices in mental health care, come from those who have experienced it firsthand.
As patient council associate for St. Joseph’s Mental Health Care Program, Rachel supports three advisory groups that help shape care through lived experience: the Patients’ Council and Family Advisory Council at Parkwood Institute’s Finch Family Mental Health Care Building, and the new patients’ council at Southwest Centre for Forensic Mental Health Care named the Navigation Empowerment Council, which recently launched in July 2025.
“Hearing from someone with lived experience can actually impact and shape how care is delivered,” adds Rachel.
“These are three separate councils with separate members and meetings,” Rachel explains. “Sometimes they collaborate on shared issues, but each has its own priorities and guidelines.”
Together, the councils include approximately 30 patient representatives and family members who volunteer their time to share perspectives, raise concerns and help improve services. Rachel’s role is to make that work possible — coordinating logistics, supporting members and helping ideas turn into action.
“A big part of my role is the guidance that I provide council members and helping empower them to do important advocacy work,” says Rachel, who helps members clarify priorities and navigate the organization to find the right people and pathways.
“It’s about helping them identify what they want to focus on and how to move that forward,” she says.
One major initiative led by the councils was a recent refresh of the Mental Health Care Program’s Patient Bill of Rights. Drawing directly on lived experience, members partnered with staff to ensure the information is clear, meaningful and accessible for patients, families and visitors.
“It’s critical,” she says. “We need to hear from the service recipient who’s actually lived it so it can better inform our decisions and the projects we implement.”
Council members also have the opportunity to share their lived experiences through presentations to staff, including corporate and program orientations for new employees; offering powerful insight into what care feels like from the patient or family perspective.
“Hearing from someone with lived experience can actually impact and shape how care is delivered,” adds Rachel.
For Rachel, ensuring patients and families have a voice is essential to quality care.
“It’s critical,” she says. “We need to hear from the service recipient who’s actually lived it so it can better inform our decisions and the projects we implement.”
Families, she adds, bring equally important knowledge. “Caregivers are often providing support directly to their loved ones and we don’t always know what that journey is like. It’s important to learn from their experiences too.”
While Rachel’s role is to support council members, she says the learning goes both ways.
“Their resilience and honesty continually shape how I approach care and remind me why this work matters,” she says. “The lived experiences and personal journeys of our council members have broadened my understanding of compassion, dignity and the importance of meeting people where they are.”
Looking ahead, Rachel is keen to welcome new voices. All three councils are actively recruiting, with support from St. Joseph’s Care Partnership Office, which helps orient new members and connect interested participants.
“Meeting new people, hearing new ideas and seeing new faces on the council — that’s exciting,” she says.
Patients and family members who want to share their experiences and help improve mental health care are encouraged to get involved.
Contact Rachel Hudson, patients’ council associate, to learn more about joining a council, or speak to a member of your care team.