Assessment of mental capacity: a flow chart guide

Church, Michael; Watts, Sarah O.

doi:10.1192/pb.bp.106.011353

Cited by 23 publications

(15 citation statements)

References 13 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…Several Governmental and Local Health and Social Care services have developed forms and audit tools to act as guides to help professionals follow the Act and its requirements (Mental Capacity Act‐Audit tool‐HASCAS, http://mca-audit-tool.hascas.org; Audit tool for Mental Capacity assessments, British Psychological Society, http://www.scie.org.uk/publications/mca/audits/files/britishpsychologicalsociety.pdf). There have been previous published studies that have looked at the guide for assessment of Mental Capacity (Church & Watts 2007; Singhal et al. 2008).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Evaluation of a structured assessment framework to enable adherence to the requirements of Mental Capacity Act 2005

Ramasubramanian¹,

Ranasinghe²,

Ellison

2011

Brit J Learn Disabil

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Accessible summary The Mental Capacity Act is a new law that started in 2007. It says that everyone must be helped as much as possible to make his or her own decisions. But people with learning disabilities may find it difficult to make a particular decision and another person may have to make it for them. The new law provides important safeguards to the rights of people who cannot make decisions for themselves and also provides guidance for people working with them to deal with such situations. It is very important to follow the requirements of the Mental Capacity Act, and it is a legal requirement. We looked at how we dealt with situations when our patients could not make decisions for themselves and also looked at whether a checklist we made helped us to make decisions according to the new law. The results showed that people were not always following the new rules of the Mental Capacity Act before we gave them our new checklist. Using our checklist helped people making decisions for people with learning disabilities in a way which fitted in better with the new Mental Capacity Act. Summary The Mental Capacity Act 2005 for England and Wales received Royal assent in April 2005 and came into force in 2007 (Department of Constitutional Affairs, 2007). The Mental Capacity Act 2005 provides a statutory framework to empower and protect vulnerable people who are not able to make their own decisions. The adherence to it is a statutory requirement, not just guidance. An audit looked at the quality, thoroughness and completeness of making decisions for people with learning disabilities who lacked capacity in making specific decisions for themselves. We re‐audited the same using a checklist made with the requirements of the Mental Capacity Act in mind. The audit showed that the use of the checklist enabled a structured discussion to take place regarding the decision‐making process and ensured complete documentation. It facilitated full adherence to the Mental Capacity Act and established better standards of clinical practice.

show abstract

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Evaluation of a structured assessment framework to enable adherence to the requirements of Mental Capacity Act 2005

Ramasubramanian¹,

Ranasinghe²,

Ellison

2011

Brit J Learn Disabil

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Many local National Health Service (NHS) Trusts have developed guidelines specific to their services and client groups, and individual clinicians have also formulated similar procedures (Church and Watts, 2007). The development of semi-structured interview and assessment protocols has been helpful in increasing consistency and feelings of competence and confidence amongst psychologists (Newby et al, 2011;Todd et al, 2008).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 98%

Clinical psychologists’ implementation of the Mental Capacity Act

Walji

Fletcher

Weatherhead

2014

Social Care and Neurodisability

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Purpose -The purpose of this paper is to present an exploration of the experiences of clinical psychologists involved in implementing the Mental Capacity Act (MCA). Design/methodology/approach -Seven clinical psychologists were interviewed and transcripts were analysed using thematic analysis. Findings -Six themes were identified: competence and confidence; understanding and uncertainty; colleagues, collaboration, conflicts, and challenges; working within the law: processes and penalties; the psychological way: specialist skills and difficult decision-making; and power, principles, and protecting the person. The themes highlighted how the specialist skills and professional values of clinical psychologists enhanced their ability to maintain person-centred approaches and uphold the empowering principles underlying the MCA. Data analysis indicated a shared narrative among clinical psychologists involved in implementing the MCA, despite differences in client groups and contexts. Practical implications -This research highlighted the importance of finding solutions to current problems with the implementation of the MCA, such as training gaps and misunderstanding of the Act in relation to some of its complexities (e.g. deprivation of liberty safeguards and best interests decisions). These areas have the potential to significantly impact on a person's wellbeing. There is an ongoing need for training, multidisciplinary working, and strong effective supervision with ongoing reflexivity, if the Act is to be implemented in the holistic person-centred manner that are the foundations on which it was developed. Originality/value -This research identifies the important role clinical psychologists have to play in this process. Their specialist skills can encourage a person-centred approach to the implementation of the MCA.

show abstract

“…Paradoxically, in circumstances of incapacity (Church 2007) a high degree of restriction may be more supportive of recovery and personhood than leaving people to 'rot with their rights on' (Davidson 2006). Leave restrictions and detention provide boundaries to support safety planning and choice in keeping with premorbid preferences.…”

Section: Risk Choice and Responsibilitymentioning

confidence: 99%

Recovery and person-centred care in dementia: common purpose, common practice?

Hill¹,

Roberts²,

Wildgoose³

et al. 2010

Adv. psychiatr. treat

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

SummaryWith the launch of the Fair Deal for Mental Health campaign in 2008 the Royal College of Psychiatrists made a commitment to ensuring that ‘training for psychiatrists promotes the recovery approach’. National guidance emphasises the universal applicability of the recovery values for anyone of any age who has a significant mental health problem. Yet there has been little thinking as to whether the recovery approach is applicable to old age psychiatry and particularly to dementia care. This article explores the striking similarities between a recovery-oriented approach and person-centred care, the particular challenge posed in dementia care and the benefits of a collaborative approach in pursuit of common purposes.

show abstract

Assessment of mental capacity: a flow chart guide

Cited by 23 publications

References 13 publications

Evaluation of a structured assessment framework to enable adherence to the requirements of Mental Capacity Act 2005

Evaluation of a structured assessment framework to enable adherence to the requirements of Mental Capacity Act 2005

Clinical psychologists’ implementation of the Mental Capacity Act

Recovery and person-centred care in dementia: common purpose, common practice?

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About