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A Casebook of Mental Capacity in US Legislation: Assessment and Legal Commentary employs an applied and accessible approach to the assessment of mental capacity. Through the use of rich vignettes and case examples, the text provides legal commentary to illustrate state laws and ethical principles from varied decision-making capacities in distinct settings to fortify its assessment.
The text begins by providing a background about decision-making capacity as a construct. It also provides practical guidance on capacity assessment germane to a broad range of clinical settings, including geropsychology, health psychology, and neuropsychology. It moves on to reviewing decision-making rights that make up capacity, and provides ethical guidelines while drawing the practitioner's attention to the common pitfalls. The case presentations and legal commentary underline key areas such as the capacity to consent to medical treatment, make welfare decisions, enter into a sexual relationship, make financial decisions, create or revoke a will, litigate and contract, and stand trial. It also includes a chapter focusing on integrating culture and diversity in capacity evaluations with the aim of increasing the practitioner's competence.
This casebook will be useful for clinical psychologists in practice, researchers and students seeking to understand how to perform capacity assessments, as well as other related healthcare professionals. It is further aimed at legal professionals to utilize as a reference that details how individual types of capacity are defined and assessed.
About the author
Dr. Lynn A. Schaefer is a Fellow of the APA (Division 40) and National Academy of Neuropsychology and former Chair of the Ethics PIAC Subcommittee for the Society for Clinical Neuropsychology. Her interests include remediation of neurobehavioral disorders, educational outreach, and capacity. She has presented on the latter to both the APA and ABA.
Dr. Thomas J. Farrer is a neuropsychologist and an assistant professor at the Duke University Medical Center and adjunct faculty at the University of North Carolina. He has published additional books and articles in neuropsychology and has research interests in dementia, brain imaging, and traumatic brain injury.
Summary
A Casebook of Mental Capacity in US Legislation: Assessment and Legal Commentary employs an applied approach to the assessment of mental capacity. The text provides legal commentary to illustrate state laws and ethical principles from decision-making capacities in distinct settings to fortify its assessment.
