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Best interests, dementia and the Mental Capacity Act (2005)
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Hope, R. A., Slowther, Anne and Eccles, J. (2009) Best interests, dementia and the Mental Capacity Act (2005). Journal of Medical Ethics, 35 (12). pp. 733-738. doi:10.1136/jme.2009.030783
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Official URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/jme.2009.030783
Abstract
The Mental Capacity Act (2005) is an impressive piece of
legislation that deserves serious ethical attention, but
much of the commentary on the Act has focussed on its
legal and practical implications rather than the underlying
ethical concepts. This paper examines the approach that
the Act takes to best interests. The Act does not provide
an account of the underlying concept of best interests.
Instead it lists factors that must be considered in
determining best interests, and the Code of Practice to
the Act states that this list is incomplete. This paper
argues that this general approach is correct, contrary to
some accounts of best interests. The checklist includes
items that are unhelpful. Furthermore, neither the Act nor
its Code of Practice provides sufficient guidance to carers
faced with difficult decisions concerning best interests.
This paper suggests ways in which the checklist can be
developed and discusses cases that could be used in an
updated Code of Practice.
| Item Type: | Journal Article | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Subjects: | R Medicine > RC Internal medicine | ||||||||
| Divisions: | Faculty of Medicine > Warwick Medical School > Health Sciences Faculty of Medicine > Warwick Medical School > Health Sciences > Social Science & Systems in Health (SSSH) Faculty of Medicine > Warwick Medical School |
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| Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH): | Psychiatric ethics, Dementia -- Moral and ethical aspects, Mental Capacity Act 2005 | ||||||||
| Journal or Publication Title: | Journal of Medical Ethics | ||||||||
| Publisher: | BMJ Group | ||||||||
| ISSN: | 0306-6800 | ||||||||
| Official Date: | December 2009 | ||||||||
| Dates: |
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| Volume: | 35 | ||||||||
| Number: | 12 | ||||||||
| Number of Pages: | 6 | ||||||||
| Page Range: | pp. 733-738 | ||||||||
| DOI: | 10.1136/jme.2009.030783 | ||||||||
| Status: | Peer Reviewed | ||||||||
| Publication Status: | Published | ||||||||
| Access rights to Published version: | Open Access | ||||||||
| Adapted As: |
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