Discuss the Socio-Political Factors That May Influence Mental Health
Mental Capacity Act
The Mental Capacity Act is designed to protect people who can't make decisions for themselves or lack the mental capacity to do so. This could be due to a mental health condition, a severe learning difficulty, a brain injury, a stroke or unconsciousness due to an anaesthetic or sudden accident.
The act's purpose is: * To allow adults to make as many decisions as they can for themselves. * To enable adults to make advance decisions about whether they would like future medical treatment. * To allow adults to appoint, in advance of losing mental capacity, another person to make decisions about personal welfare or property on their behalf at a future date. * To allow decisions concerning personal welfare or property and affairs to be made in the best interests of adults when they have not made any future plans and cannot make a decision at the time. * To ensure an NHS body or local authority will appoint an independent mental capacity advocate to support someone who cannot make a decision about serious medical treatment, or about hospital, care home or residential accommodation, when there are no family or friends to be consulted. * To provide protection against legal liability for carers who have honestly and reasonably sought to act in the person’s best interests. * To provide clarity and safeguards around research in relation to those who lack capacity.
Under the Mental Capacity Act a person is presumed to make their own decisions “unless all practical steps to help him (or her) to make a decision have been taken without success”.
Every person should be presumed to be able to make their own decisions. You can only take a decision for someone else if all practical steps to help them to make a decision have been taken without success. For example, someone might have the capacity to walk into a shop and buy a CD but not to go into an estate agent and purchase a property.
Incapacity is not based on the ability
The Mental Capacity Act is designed to protect people who can't make decisions for themselves or lack the mental capacity to do so. This could be due to a mental health condition, a severe learning difficulty, a brain injury, a stroke or unconsciousness due to an anaesthetic or sudden accident.
The act's purpose is: * To allow adults to make as many decisions as they can for themselves. * To enable adults to make advance decisions about whether they would like future medical treatment. * To allow adults to appoint, in advance of losing mental capacity, another person to make decisions about personal welfare or property on their behalf at a future date. * To allow decisions concerning personal welfare or property and affairs to be made in the best interests of adults when they have not made any future plans and cannot make a decision at the time. * To ensure an NHS body or local authority will appoint an independent mental capacity advocate to support someone who cannot make a decision about serious medical treatment, or about hospital, care home or residential accommodation, when there are no family or friends to be consulted. * To provide protection against legal liability for carers who have honestly and reasonably sought to act in the person’s best interests. * To provide clarity and safeguards around research in relation to those who lack capacity.
Under the Mental Capacity Act a person is presumed to make their own decisions “unless all practical steps to help him (or her) to make a decision have been taken without success”.
Every person should be presumed to be able to make their own decisions. You can only take a decision for someone else if all practical steps to help them to make a decision have been taken without success. For example, someone might have the capacity to walk into a shop and buy a CD but not to go into an estate agent and purchase a property.
Incapacity is not based on the ability