Mental Capacity Assessment

Supporting capacity with augmentative communication aids

How to carry out Mental Capacity Assessments

26 September 202213 September 2022
Mental Capacity in Practice

Since launching Mental Capacity Ltd at the start of 2022, we have published a new blog every week to raise awareness around the Mental Capacity Act and help professionals build confidence and develop skills in applying the Act in practice. In this blog, we bring together some of our most popular blogs on how to carry out Mental Capacity Assessments (sometimes referred to as Mental Capacity Tests) to help you quickly and easily find the resources you need.

Quality of care: grandmother and grandaughter smiling together

Mental Capacity Test or Assessment – what is the difference?

12 September 202210 February 2023
Comment, Mental Capacity in Practice

There are several terms that are used to describe the process of determining a person’s mental capacity. Is it a Mental Capacity Test, or a Mental Capacity Assessment? In this blog, we explore some of the language around the Mental Capacity Act (2005) and how it applies in practice.

Future decisions: black and white photo of man looking pensive as he thinks about what to do

Mental Capacity and future decisions

15 August 202212 August 2022
Comment, Mental Capacity in Practice

The Mental Capacity Act is designed to empower a person’s voice, protect their rights and provide safeguarding measures, alongside direction of practice, if a person is determined to lack capacity for a particular decision at a certain time. In this blog, we explore the role of the Mental Capacity Act around future decisions relating to healthcare, finance and assigning an LPA.

Consultancy services: two women having a business meeting

Supporting your team with MCA consultancy

1 August 20221 August 2022
News

In our mission to Promote, Partner and Protect, we place a great emphasis on helping teams develop their skills around the Mental Capacity Act, Mental Capacity Assessments, and related areas such as Best Interest Decisions and LPA. In today’s blog we want to shed a little light on what this can look like in everyday practice…

Young man in red wheelchair smiling and happy

Preparing questions for a complex Mental Capacity Assessment

13 June 202225 February 2023
Case Study, Mental Capacity in Practice

In our last blog, we considered the complex case of ‘P’ – an individual being assessed for mental capacity with respect to their change in accommodation, as well as their wish to take responsibility for managing their inheritance.

The case study highlighted several major issues in the way the original mental capacity assessment had been completed, including concerns around the lack of support to help P communicate autonomously, and the lack of documentation around P’s condition and capacity.

Mental capacity assessment: female professional assessing elderly gentleman

Mental Capacity training in July and August 2022

8 June 20226 June 2022
Events, News

We are delighted to announce the next in our series of webinars designed to build confidence in working with the Mental Capacity Act (2005) and…

Assessing complex cases: Disabled man using eye tracking software

Mental capacity assessments for complex decisions

6 June 202210 October 2022
Case Study, Mental Capacity in Practice

In this blog, we will work through an example mental capacity assessment for an individual making a complex decision. This case study is based on a real-life example reviewed in the wake of the Covid pandemic. At each stage we will present the information as it was presented to us, followed by specific comment relating to the assessment process and steps that could and in some cases should have been taken to improve the quality of outcomes.

Capacity to make a will: Signing an important document

Reflecting on changes to the MCA Code of Practice (Part 10)

30 May 202218 May 2022
Comment

In the tenth and final part of our blog series on the proposed changes to the MCA Code of Practice, we look at other legal tests of Mental Capacity, plus the use of Retrospective Assessments

Reflecting on changes to the MCA Code of Practice (Part 4)

9 May 20229 May 2022
Comment

In the fourth part of our blog series on the proposed changes to the MCA Code of Practice, we look at Chapter 4, and the process for assessing capacity.

Weighing up a tough decision: Man sat thinking on sofa

What is ‘weighing up’?

2 May 202220 April 2022
Mental Capacity in Practice

When assessing someone for their capacity to make a specific decision, it is important that they are able to demonstrate that they can sufficiently ‘weigh up’ the decision and so form a reasoned judgement – whether we agree with their final decision or not.