Safeguarding People Living with Dementia

How Social Workers Can Use Supported Decision-Making Strategies to Support the Human Rights of Individuals during Adult Safeguarding Enquiries

Datos Bibliográficos

ID10896005
AutoresJeremy Dixon (0000-0003-0656-5646, University of Bath, autor de correspondencia), Simon Donnelly (0000-0002-5436-3195, University College Dublin), Sarah Donnelly, Jim Campbell (0000-0002-2702-1122, University College Dublin), Judy Laing (0000-0002-4916-1097, University of Bristol Law School, Bristol, UK)
Año2022
Volumen52
Número3
Páginas1307-1324
Fecha de publicación2022-04-21
Peer ReviewedSí
Open AccessSí
TipoARTICLE
RevistaThe British Journal of Social Work (JOURNAL)
Identificadores de la revistaISSN: 0045-3102 • E-ISSN: 1468-263X
EditorialOxford University Press (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1093/bjsw/bcab119
OpenAlexW3159982150
IdiomaEN
Citas recibidas8
Referencias citadas24

Dementia may make adults more susceptible to abuse and neglect and such mistreatment is recognised as a human rights violation. This article focusses on how the rights of people living with dementia might be protected through the use of supported decision-making within safeguarding work. The article begins by reviewing the aims and scope of adult safeguarding services. It then describes how the concept of ‘legal capacity’ is set out in the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) and how this differs from the concept of ‘mental capacity’ in the Mental Capacity Act 2005. Focussing on practice in England, it is argued that tensions between the CRPD and domestic law exist, but these can be brought into closer alignment by finding ways to maximise supported decision-making within existing legal and policy frameworks. The article concludes with suggested practice strategies which involve: (i) providing clear and accessible information about safeguarding; (ii) thinking about the location of safeguarding meetings; (iii) building relationships with people living with dementia; (iv) using flexible timescales; (v) tailoring information to meet the needs of people living with dementia and (v) respecting the person’s will and preferences in emergency situations

Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities · Dementia · Elder abuse · Human rights · Mental capacity · Neglect · Poison control · Political science · Psychiatry · Public relations · Safeguarding · Scope (computer science) · Set (abstract data type) · Suicide prevention · Vulnerable adult · Computer Science · Elder Abuse and Neglect · Healthcare Decision-Making and Restraints · Healthcare innovation and challenges · Law · Medicine · Nursing · Psychology