Section 16 Capacity to Consent

• Library: Mental Health 2006

Before allowing a person with the authority to consent to make a treatment decision, the person’s capacity to consent must be assessed. Because this determination is so critical, great care must be taken in assessing decision-making capacity. No patient, either voluntary or involuntary, shall be presumed to lack decision-making capacity merely “as a consequence of receiving evaluation, care, treatment, habilitation or rehabilitation for a mental disorder, mental illness, mental retardation, developmental disability, alcohol problem or drug problem.” Section 630.120, RSMo 2000.

For health care treatment decisions, incapacity is determined on the basis of the person’s ability to understand the nature of the patient’s medical condition, the risks of treatment and non-treatment, the risks and benefits of the proposed treatment, and the available alternatives. Accordingly, the determination of incapacity is made based on the person’s ability to:

• comprehend information relative to the decision
• deliberate regarding...