Évaluation de l’aptitude d’une personne âgée atteinte de déficits cognitifs à gérer sa personne et ses biens : Identification des outils disponibles

Abstract

The accelerated aging of the Canadian population is a recognized fact and leads to an increasing number of seniors with cognitive impairments (Curateur public du Québec, 2010a). This has a definite impact on health professionals who have to assess their competency to live independently and manage their finances. This decision, which has important consequences for the person, must be based on an objective and rigorous assessment. The purpose of this paper is to analyse the available tools, both in the scientific literature and in clinical settings, to better document the various components to assess seniors' competency to live independently and manage their finances. The goal is to help practitioners who work with older people with cognitive impairments to accurately assess their ability to manage themselves and their property. A review of the relevant literature and training available, as well as three group consultations, showed that there is no consensus about the tools used to assess the capacity to take care of oneself and one's property. Additional studies are thus needed to fill the gap in knowledge about specific tools used to assess competency.

Evaluating Adult’s Competency: Application of the Competency Assessment Process

“…Assessments must be objective, rigorous, and ethical and done with proper tools [ 20 ]. To achieve this, professionals must also be familiar with the law that defines the different legal protection measures because some are less restrictive than others [ 21 ]. It is also important to use validated tools in the assessment process.…”

“…It is also important to use validated tools in the assessment process. In many places, including Québec, health and social service professionals do not use a normative framework or model for decision-making; therefore, there is no standardized approach for assessing competency [ 18 , 19 , 21 ].…”

“…A previous research by Giroux [ 14 ] led to the development of a clinical competency assessment model, the Competency Assessment Process (CAP). This model guides and supports health and social service professionals through the process of determining a person's need for legal protection.…”

Validation de l’outil d’évaluation de l’aptitude (OÉA): Une étude Delphi

“…Une étude récente (Giroux, Tétreault, & Langlois, 2012 ) propose un modèle d'évaluation dynamique et exhaustif destiné aux professionnels de la santé et des services sociaux pour guider l'évaluation clinique de l'aptitude. Il s'agit du Processus d'Évaluation de l'Aptitude (PÉA), ( fi gure 1 ).…”

“…Par exemple, pour évaluer la capacité de la personne à assurer sa protection en lien avec la gestion de ses fi nances, plusieurs questions sont proposées dont celles-ci : A) Avez-vous tendance à donner vos choses? B) Quelqu'un a-t-il accès à votre (Giroux et al, 2012 ). Pour ce faire, une consultation a été effectuée dans le cadre d'un focus-group constitué de sept experts provenant de plusieurs disciplines: ergothérapie, médecine, neuropsychologie, soins infi rmiers, travail social (Giroux et al, 2012 ).…”