Mental Capacity Act

The Mental Capacity Act is legislation which increases the legal rights of the person with dementia to be involved in decisions about their own health and care. The Act also means that when somebody no longer has the mental capacity to be involved in decision making themselves, their carer will have the right to be consulted about decisions being made on behalf of the person with

Moreover, through the Mental Capacity Act (2005), it provides a legal framework for making decisions on behalf of the individual who lack the capacity to make decisions for themselves as long as it does not restrict the rights and freedom of action.

Make sure that the individual’s voice has been heard and that they are included in any decisions made if the individual lacks capacity it may be good to bring in family or an advocate to speak on behalf of the individual so that they still have a voice and their choices and rights are still there for them.

Besides, if a person lacks mental capacity to give valid consent, nurses caring for such a person should be involved in assessing the treatment to be administered. However, they must be “aware of the legislation regarding mental capacity, ensuring that people who lack capacity remain at the centre of decision making and are fully safeguarded.”6 The Mental Capacity Act (2005) offers assistance regarding ‘capacity’. The Act applies to all aged 16 and above and to those with learning disability, dementia, brain injury, autism and mental health issues.

An independent mental capacity advocate is not the decision maker in the individuals’ life, even though they had to be referred to an advocate under The Mental Capacity Act 2005. However the decision maker does have a responsibility to take into account the information specified to them by the independent

| * Established the independent mental capacity advocates service * Makes it clear who can make decisions for other individuals in different situations, and how they must go about doing so. * Applies whether the decision is about living changing events or every day matters – relevant to adults of any age, regardless of when they lost capacity

THE FIVE STATUTORY PRINCIPLESThe five principles are outlined in the Section 1 of the Act. These are designed to protect people who lack capacity to make particular decisions, but also to maximise their ability to make decisions, or to participate in decision-making, as far as they are able to do so.

They had gotten to be too extensive, cumbersome and the framework had opened itself up to manhandle. In 1961 the Minister of Health, Enoch Powell was welcome to talk at the AGM of the National Association for Mental Health. In his discourse he reported that it the administration of the day proposed to "the disposal of by a long shot most of the nation's mental clinics." in the meantime, territorial loads up were requested that "guarantee that no more cash than should be expected is spent on redesigning and reconditioning". This declaration had paralyzed the therapeutic callings, as there had been no sign that the legislature was going to travel in this heading; just a modest bunch of trial group care programs existed around the nation. It would

“A decision made by a person (‘P’) after he has reached 18 and when he has capacity to do so, that if – (a) at a later time and in such circumstances as he may specify, a specified treatment is proposed to be carried out or continued by a person providing health care for him, and (b) at that time he lacks capacity to consent to the carrying out or continuation of the treatment, the specified treatment is not to be carried out or

The Mental Health Services Act is a monumental proposition that has helped many people for more than a decade. In California alone, close to 1.2 million adults and around 422,000 children live with a serious mental illness (State 2010). Without the proper treatment, suicide is the leading cause of death for a person battling an untreated mental illness (State 2010). With over thirteen billion dollars raised so far, MHSA has been the root of funding for mental health in California (Williams 2015). MHSA is still a work in progress. The act is nowhere near perfect, as a recent audit has shown, but it is certainly a step in the right direction.

Research has shown IOC to be more effective when combined with additional components. Examples of these components include psychiatric advance directives, Assertive Case Management (ACM), representative payees, conditional release, conservatorship/guardianship, and mental health courts. Psychiatric advance directives are legal documents that permit mentally ill individuals to authorize and specify treatment in anticipation of future periods of mental incapacity. ACM consists of mental health teams that actively assist with treatment in the home. Representative payees are trusted persons designated by a mentally ill individual that help that individual use funds wisely by being the payee of benefits. Conditional

Decision making and best interests of the patient in the care for people with mental health problems are one of the main concerns in nursing practice. Healthcare professionals should be knowledgeable enough to practice the legal code regarding decision making and protection of the patient with mental health problems (NMC, 2008).

The author will also discuss the principles of the Mental Capacity Act (2005) and the Mental Health Act (1983) and how it protect an adult who is vulnerable and lacks capacity. Likewise, the author will discuss ranges of nursing interventions, person-centred care, and ethical dilemmas.

My chosen reflection piece is on ageism, see appendix one. I will provide evidence reflecting the links between diabetes and depression, which will form my chosen seminar topic, see appendix two. I will then critically analyze the mental capacity Act (2005) and relate it to my specific scenario, see appendix three. I will explore how nurses the Act within nursing practice, decision- making, and how we access a person’s capacity to make specific decisions. I will explore any ethical issues that may arise following the principles of Mental Capacity Act (2005).

The world is facing an emergency in the area of human rights in the mental health sector as human rights of the people with mental disabilities have been violating (World Health Organisation). . Many countries in the world and Australia itself have legislation to treat a person with mental illness against his/her wish or without their consent which is the abuse of their basic human rights. The mental health legislation which is called Involuntary Treatment Orders involves treatment and detention of people with mental illness against their wish and it is total violation of the rights of people with mental illness who are subjected to these treatment orders. The United Nations Convention on the Rights of People with Disabilities (CRPD) recognizes that people with disabilities should have freedom from torture and will be given the right to make their own decisions (Barriga, 2013). Therefore, the mental health legislation in Australia also being reviewed by a number of Australian governments in the light of principles set out in UNCRPD (Mcsherry & Wilson, 2015). Consequently, there are some provisions have been made in the recent mental health reform specially to involuntary treatment orders to empower consumers rights which are going to be discussed in the following essay. The Mental health Act 2014 is the major aspect of mental health reform to promote recovery-oriented practice, minimise the use and duration of compulsory treatment, safeguard the rights and dignity of people