Documentation

Man sat on a picnic bench, smoking while playing a guitar

Case study: How to document a Mental Capacity Assessment

29 May 202313 May 2023
Case Study, Mental Capacity in Practice

The way professionals document mental capacity tests can vary greatly across the health and care sectors. In some cases, professionals are not yet using the updated assessment format of Functional and then Diagnostic. More worrying still is that in some cases it’s not just the documentation format that varies, but the quality of the content that is recorded.

In this blog, we examine two example assessments, using the case of Dylan to show the impact documentation can have on the outcomes of an assessment.

Reflecting on changes to the MCA Code of Practice (Part 3)

4 May 202214 August 2023
Comment

In the third part of our series on the MCA Code of Practice consultation, we look at executive functioning impairment and fluctuating capacity.

Retaining information: man looking out of window

What is retention?

18 April 20225 April 2022
Mental Capacity in Practice

When it comes to Mental Capacity Assessments, ‘retention’ refers to an individual’s ability to recollect relevant information relating to a specific decision. However, in assessing for retention, it is also important to take into account the second principle of the Mental Capacity Act, which states that we should actively support capacity wherever possible. Therefore, as assessors, we should provide sufficient support to enable retention where possible – be it through labelled items, social stories, easy read guides or so on.