Gigi,
This may be of use to you when trying to work your way through the Mental Capacity Assessment.
An IMCA service will refuse to be involved if a person has family/friends/involved others involved in his/her life. That was the case, and I don't think it has changed recently.
The person who carries out the assessment should be the person ‘responsible for making the particular decision’ a.k.a the ‘decision maker’. Also, that person should have received suitable training in assessing mental capacity. Changing Residence is considered to be a ‘welfare’ decision, rather than a ‘health’ decision – which is why a SW carried out the assessment, in our case, rather than the Consultant.
In our case, regarding the specific decision about a move to residential care, the assessment was carried out on the 2nd, 8th and 15th of the same month. It was carried out in the assessment ward, twice in the quiet room, once in the garden. No family member was present – but it is most definitely a possibility for a family member to be present, and that is something I would have wanted if only I had known then that it was a possibility. But you learn more as you go along, and the MCA was brand-spanking new then - the 'team' have since apologised for many faults on their part, citing their 'newness' to it all. They had all been on the 'training course', so I won't forgive them for many of their errors.
Also, the assessment should be carried out in a place and at a time when the ‘assessee’ is not disorientated and not at maximum confused-point, so not at that “sundowning” time. And if Eric is 'unhappy' about going to the day centre, then your SW should perhaps think again about the location, because he is most likely to say "I want to be at home". But it's down to the assessor to decide whether he actually knows what/where home is.
If/when it takes place, you should make sure the SW (or whoever) knows in advance that you will want to receive a copy of the assessment documentation.
The one thing you may not have seen is the ‘blank’ Mental Capacity Assessment and Decision Documentation. I don’t have a blank, but I do have a completed form, which I can’t scan and post because it contains personal and 3rd party detail.
If you wish, I could post the full form questions/documentation/assessment process required. Then you may be able to assess whether your SW is showing the capacity to understand it all. Ours certainly did have that ability. But she was not ‘very young’.
I'm quite willing to post the full documentation detail - anonymised, of course - if only because it may help others too. But it's your decision, and it will be a fairly long post. But I'm happy to do it, if you think it might help.
This may be of use to you when trying to work your way through the Mental Capacity Assessment.
An IMCA service will refuse to be involved if a person has family/friends/involved others involved in his/her life. That was the case, and I don't think it has changed recently.
The person who carries out the assessment should be the person ‘responsible for making the particular decision’ a.k.a the ‘decision maker’. Also, that person should have received suitable training in assessing mental capacity. Changing Residence is considered to be a ‘welfare’ decision, rather than a ‘health’ decision – which is why a SW carried out the assessment, in our case, rather than the Consultant.
In our case, regarding the specific decision about a move to residential care, the assessment was carried out on the 2nd, 8th and 15th of the same month. It was carried out in the assessment ward, twice in the quiet room, once in the garden. No family member was present – but it is most definitely a possibility for a family member to be present, and that is something I would have wanted if only I had known then that it was a possibility. But you learn more as you go along, and the MCA was brand-spanking new then - the 'team' have since apologised for many faults on their part, citing their 'newness' to it all. They had all been on the 'training course', so I won't forgive them for many of their errors.
Also, the assessment should be carried out in a place and at a time when the ‘assessee’ is not disorientated and not at maximum confused-point, so not at that “sundowning” time. And if Eric is 'unhappy' about going to the day centre, then your SW should perhaps think again about the location, because he is most likely to say "I want to be at home". But it's down to the assessor to decide whether he actually knows what/where home is.
If/when it takes place, you should make sure the SW (or whoever) knows in advance that you will want to receive a copy of the assessment documentation.
The one thing you may not have seen is the ‘blank’ Mental Capacity Assessment and Decision Documentation. I don’t have a blank, but I do have a completed form, which I can’t scan and post because it contains personal and 3rd party detail.
If you wish, I could post the full form questions/documentation/assessment process required. Then you may be able to assess whether your SW is showing the capacity to understand it all. Ours certainly did have that ability. But she was not ‘very young’.
I'm quite willing to post the full documentation detail - anonymised, of course - if only because it may help others too. But it's your decision, and it will be a fairly long post. But I'm happy to do it, if you think it might help.
