Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of contributors
- Acknowledgements
- 1 Introduction
- Section I Information problems
- Introduction
- 2 Consent
- 3 Capacity
- 4 Disclosure
- 5 Voluntariness
- 6 Truth telling
- 7 Confidentiality
- Section II End of life care
- Section III Pregnant women and children
- Section IV Genetics and biotechnology
- Section V Research ethics
- Section VI Health systems and institutions
- Section VII Using clinical ethics to make an impact in healthcare
- Section VIII Global health ethics
- Section IX Religious and cultural perspectives in bioethics
- Section X Specialty bioethics
- Index
- References
3 - Capacity
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 30 October 2009
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of contributors
- Acknowledgements
- 1 Introduction
- Section I Information problems
- Introduction
- 2 Consent
- 3 Capacity
- 4 Disclosure
- 5 Voluntariness
- 6 Truth telling
- 7 Confidentiality
- Section II End of life care
- Section III Pregnant women and children
- Section IV Genetics and biotechnology
- Section V Research ethics
- Section VI Health systems and institutions
- Section VII Using clinical ethics to make an impact in healthcare
- Section VIII Global health ethics
- Section IX Religious and cultural perspectives in bioethics
- Section X Specialty bioethics
- Index
- References
Summary
Ms. C is a 22-year-old woman with unstable insulin-dependent diabetes who has suffered an intrauterine death at 36 weeks of gestation. She is refusing medical induction of labor, which has been recommended to avoid the risk of potentially life-threatening sepsis. She insists that the birth must be “natural” and becomes extremely distressed when attempts are made to discuss this further. In the past, she has had repeated admissions to hospital as a result of poor diabetic control and, consequently, is well known to staff. Although the current clinical state is stable, the medical team have become extremely anxious about the possible consequences of her refusal of treatment and they have requested an assessment of capacity. Ms. C refuses to discuss her decision and turns her back to the interviewer. A further attempt to discuss this is met with a similar response.
What is capacity?
Capacity is a complex construct that refers to the presence of a particular set of “functional abilities” that a person needs to possess in order to make a specific decision (Grisso and Applebaum, 1998). These abilities include being able to understand the relevant information needed to make the decision and to appreciate the relatively foreseeable consequences of the various options available. In the medical setting, the key decision to be made is whether to give or withhold consent to investigation or treatment.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- The Cambridge Textbook of Bioethics , pp. 17 - 23Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2008
References
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