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Capacity Reconceptualized: From Assessment Tool to Clinical Intervention

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  24 February 2023

Omar F. Mirza Open the ORCID record for Omar F. Mirza [Opens in a new window]  and
Jacob M. Appel Open the ORCID record for Jacob M. Appel [Opens in a new window]
Omar F. Mirza*
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry, Harlem Hospital, New York, New York, USA
Jacob M. Appel
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry and Medical Education, Mount Sinai’s Icahn School of Medicine, New York, New York, USA
*
*Corresponding author. Email: omar.mirza@nychhc.org
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Abstract

Capacity evaluation has become a widely used assessment device in clinical practice to determine whether patients have the cognitive ability to render their own medical decisions. Such evaluations, which might be better thought of as “capacity challenges,” are generally thought of as benign tools used to facilitate care. This paper proposes that such challenges should be reconceptualized as significant medical interventions with their own set of risks, side effects, and potentially deleterious consequences. As a result, a cost–benefit analysis should be implemented prior to imposing such capacity challenges, and efforts should be made to minimize such challenges in situations where they are unlikely to alter the course of treatment.

Keywords

autonomymedical decision-makingdecision-making capacitydecisional capacitypaternalism

Information

Type
Research Article
Information
Cambridge Quarterly of Healthcare Ethics , Volume 33 , Issue 1 , January 2024 , pp. 35 - 39
Copyright
© The Author(s), 2023. Published by Cambridge University Press

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References

Notes

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