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Preliminary Report on Informed Consent for Mental Capacity Assessments

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 November 2010

Rona Abramovitch ,
Mary Finstad  and
Michel Silberfeld
Rona Abramovitch
Affiliation:
University of Toronto
Mary Finstad
Affiliation:
University of Toronto
Michel Silberfeld
Affiliation:
University of Toronto
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Abstract

The goal of the study was to investigate the issue of informed consent for mental capacity. Seventeen clients referred to the Competency Clinic at the Baycrest Centre for Geriatric Care were interviewed after the assessment had been completed. Their responses to questions regarding the reasons for and possible consequences of the assessment indicated a range of understanding and of capacity to give informed consent. The results are discussed in terms of the appropriateness of having a fairly low threshold for informed consent in situations where other capacities are already in question.

Résumé

La présente étude avait pour but d'étudier le consentement éclairé, c'est-à-dire donné en connaissance de cause, et la capacité intellectuelle. Dix-sept patients qui avaient été aiguillés à la Competency Clinic (clinique d'évaluation de la capacité intellectuelle) du Baycrest Centre for Geriatric Care ont été interrogés à la suite de leur évaluation. Les réponses qu'ils ont données relativement aux questions entourant les raisons et les conséquences possibles de l'évaluation indiquent une variation de la compréhension et de la capacité de donner un consentement éclairé. Les résultats sont analysés afin de déterminer si le niveau peu élevé de consentement éclairé convient dans les cas où les autres capacités sont déjà remises en question.

Keywords

Informed ConsentCapacityElderlyAssessment.Consentement éclairécapacitéaînésévaluation.
Type
Articles
Information
Canadian Journal on Aging / La Revue canadienne du vieillissement , Volume 12 , Issue 3 , Fall/automne 1993 , pp. 373 - 381
Copyright
Copyright © Canadian Association on Gerontology 1993

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