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Your guide to the Mental Capacity Bill
- Author:
- GEORGE Mike
- Journal article citation:
- Care and Health Magazine, 27.7.04, 2004, pp.30-31.
- Publisher:
- Care and Health
Looks at the main areas of the Mental Capacity Bill, which covers England and Wales.
A guide to the Mental Incapacity/Capacity Bill 2003
- Authors:
- CURRAN Christopher, GRIMSHAW Catherine
- Journal article citation:
- Openmind, 128, July 2004, pp.24-25.
- Publisher:
- MIND
Provides an overview of the Mental Incapacity/Capacity Bill 2003.
Children and the use of mental health powers: the impact of the draft Mental Health Bill 2002 on children
- Author:
- CHILDREN'S LEGAL CENTRE
- Publisher:
- Children's Legal Centre
- Publication year:
- 2004
- Pagination:
- 28p.
- Place of publication:
- Colchester
About 260 young people are detained on adult psychiatric wards each year. This is a substantial proportion of all young people detained under mental health law. The government argues that levers of service management should be used to create enough adolescent beds for all adolescents who need to be detained, freeing up adult beds. Children compelled under the Bill will have ongoing educational and family needs, as well as aftercare needs. Many compelled adults are parents who have family needs. Meeting these needs are important to a patient and his / her recovery. Many children are capable of understanding the treatment that is proposed, weighing it in the balance, and coming to even major decisions. Unless they prefer to leave it to their parents, they should be allowed to consent to, or refuse, treatment to the same extent as an adult. However, the government proposes to leave the common law position in place for children under 16. This would mean that a parent can consent ‘on behalf of’ a capable child, albeit with the new and welcome safeguards.
Finding a voice
- Author:
- COCKBURN Barbara
- Journal article citation:
- Care and Health Magazine, 5.10.04, 2004, pp.18-20.
- Publisher:
- Care and Health
A draft code of practice, published to accompany the Mental Capacity Bill through parliament, clarifies the law on decision making for people who lack mental capacity. Discusses the opinions of practitioners who say the legislation will have no power unless it provides for independent advocates.
Does the bill add up?
- Author:
- WINCHESTER Ruth
- Journal article citation:
- Community Care, 15.7.04, 2004, pp.28-29.
- Publisher:
- Reed Business Information
Takes a critical look at the new Mental Capacity Bill. Although it takes on some of the critisims levelled at the previous draft, campaigners are still arguing about items in the new Bill.
Research into practice
- Author:
- COLOMBO Anthony
- Journal article citation:
- Community Care, 13.05.04, 2004, p.52.
- Publisher:
- Reed Business Information
Looks at recent research which found that a hidden medical model agenda may be damaging decision-making within mental health teams. The study found clear differences between practitioner groups with psychiatrists and community psychiatric nurses favouring a medical interpretation of mental disorder; while social workers showed strong support for the social and psychotherapeutic models.
Awareness of financial skills in dementia
- Authors:
- VAN WIELINGEN L. E., et al
- Journal article citation:
- Aging and Mental Health, 9(4), July 2004, pp.374-380.
- Publisher:
- Taylor and Francis
The present study examined the relations among levels of cognitive functioning, executive dysfunction, and awareness of financial management capabilities among a sample of 42 community-dwelling persons with dementia. Financial tasks on the Measure of Awareness of Financial Skills (MAFS) were dichotomized as simple or complex based on Piaget's operational levels of childhood cognitive development. Severity of global cognitive impairment and executive dysfunction were significantly related to awareness of financial abilities as measured by informant-participant discrepancy scores on the MAFS. For persons with mild and moderate/severe dementia, and persons with and without executive dysfunction, proportions of awareness within simple and complex financial task categories were tabulated. Significantly less awareness of financial abilities occurred on complex compared with simple tasks. Individuals with mild dementia were significantly less aware of abilities on complex items, whereas persons with moderate/severe dementia were less aware of abilities, regardless of task complexity. Similar patterns of awareness were observed for individuals with and without executive dysfunction. These findings support literature suggesting that deficits associated with dementia first occur for complex cognitive tasks involving inductive reasoning or decision-making in novel situations, and identify where loss of function in the financial domain may first be expected.
Clinical assessment of risk decision support (CARDS): the development and evaluation of a feasible violence risk assessment for routine psychiatric practice
- Authors:
- WATTS David, et al
- Journal article citation:
- Journal of Mental Health, 13(6), December 2004, pp.569-581.
- Publisher:
- Taylor and Francis
- Place of publication:
- London
Adult psychiatric services are increasingly required to assess and manage the risk of violence, but the evidence base to guide clinical practice is limited. The aim was to develop an evidence-based method of assessing risk of violence and to demonstrate its feasibility in routine practice. Consensus workshops were held to design a form based decision support system, which was refined using a Delphi consultation. The system was introduced into practice in 7 mental health services in England. Its feasibility was measured through assessment of case notes, questionnaires and focus groups of clinical staff. CARDS is a two-stage assessment, with a screen and full assessment stage. A high degree of consensus was achieved for the structure and content. CARDS met each of the six feasibility criteria: brevity, simplicity, relevance, acceptability, availability and value, though acceptability was only achieved when the assessment of violence risk was supplemented with an assessment of suicide risk. CARDS provides a feasible, evidence-based decision support procedure for assessing risk of violence in patients using adult mental health services. It can help clinicians meet policy requirements to assess risk, though its effect on actual violence is unknown.
Intentions of first-degree relatives of patients with Alzheimer's disease to seek a cognitive status examination
- Authors:
- WERNER Peerla, HEINIK Jermia
- Journal article citation:
- International Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry, 19(5), May 2004, pp.479-486.
- Publisher:
- Wiley
The aim of the present study was to examine the factors influencing intentions to seek a cognitive status evaluation among first-degree relatives of persons with Alzheimer's disease. Phone interviews were conducted with 93 first-degree relatives of persons with Alzheimer's disease, recruited from a large memory clinic. Intentions to seek a cognitive status examination were examined by asking participants to rate their willingness to seek a cognitive status examination during the next year and during the next five years. Independent variables included participants' and patients' characteristics, caregiving characteristics, knowledge about AD, worries about memory problems, and perceptions of the benefits and barriers of seeking a cognitive status examination. Overall, first-degree relatives reported only moderate intentions to seek a cognitive status examination. Their willingness to seek an examination was related to the characteristics of the first-degree relative (income and subjective memory), the characteristics of the patients (behavioral problems), the caregiving characteristics (primary caregiver), and to the perceptions of barriers associated with the examination. These findings stress the complexity of the decision-making process confronting first-degree relatives regarding their intentions to seek a cognitive status examination, and suggest the need to provide information to reach an informed decision.
The Disability Discrimination Act 1995 and psychiatry: lessons from the first seven years
- Author:
- GLOZIER Nick
- Journal article citation:
- Psychiatric Bulletin, 28(4), April 2004, pp.126-129.
- Publisher:
- Royal College of Psychiatrists
The aim was to extract relevant information for clinicians from reported and/or accessible cases involving psychiatric illness brought under the Disability Discrimination Act 1995 (DDA). Institutional databases were searched for DDA cases and relevant guidance from case law extracted. Over half the cases reaching higher courts involve psychiatric illness. A number of decisions provide guidance for clinicians wishing to aid their own patients, and those involved as expert witnesses. These cover which conditions are included as impairments (almost everything in ICD-10), what associated effects are to be considered, and the relevance of comorbidity and treatment. Cases often involve recovery of clinical documents that reveal interesting variation in professional standards. Virtually all patients of psychiatrists in secondary care would be covered by the DDA. Knowledge of this Act could be used to enhance a patient’s access to employment and services, and potentially overcome some of the effects of stigmatisation.