Search citation statements
Paper Sections
Citation Types
Year Published
Publication Types
Relationship
Authors
Journals
Accessible summary• The Mental Capacity Act says that everyone has a right to make choices in their life. • Some people find it hard to make a decision when it involves complex information. • People who work in services can be unsure how to decide when people can make a hard decision. • We developed a way of deciding if a person with a Learning Disability is able to make a choice (has capacity). • We tried to make the process clear so that more people can use it. SummaryThere appears to be some degree of hesitation and lack of confidence among professionals in conducting capacity assessments. This document explains a twophase process developed and implemented by a multi-disciplinary group of professionals during a pilot project. The first phase in the decision making process is to determine to what extent the person being assessed is able to process and recall information. The second phase involves understanding more detailed information specifically relating to the decision, in this case the procedure or intervention. The use of a two-phase process is illustrated via case studies. Over a 2-year period, 17 people who were referred from the eye unit to the capacity team were seen. Of those, two progressed to phase two of the process -and one person demonstrated capacity to make a decision. The process was based on a functional approach, and was used to avoid making decisions based on status approaches. The developed process was fed back to the professionals in the eye unit to enable them to assess capacity in relation to eye surgery. We hope to have demonstrated that capacity assessment skills are inherent in all practitioners working with people with a learning disability and are not the privileged possession of only particular professionals.
Accessible summary• The Mental Capacity Act says that everyone has a right to make choices in their life. • Some people find it hard to make a decision when it involves complex information. • People who work in services can be unsure how to decide when people can make a hard decision. • We developed a way of deciding if a person with a Learning Disability is able to make a choice (has capacity). • We tried to make the process clear so that more people can use it. SummaryThere appears to be some degree of hesitation and lack of confidence among professionals in conducting capacity assessments. This document explains a twophase process developed and implemented by a multi-disciplinary group of professionals during a pilot project. The first phase in the decision making process is to determine to what extent the person being assessed is able to process and recall information. The second phase involves understanding more detailed information specifically relating to the decision, in this case the procedure or intervention. The use of a two-phase process is illustrated via case studies. Over a 2-year period, 17 people who were referred from the eye unit to the capacity team were seen. Of those, two progressed to phase two of the process -and one person demonstrated capacity to make a decision. The process was based on a functional approach, and was used to avoid making decisions based on status approaches. The developed process was fed back to the professionals in the eye unit to enable them to assess capacity in relation to eye surgery. We hope to have demonstrated that capacity assessment skills are inherent in all practitioners working with people with a learning disability and are not the privileged possession of only particular professionals.
BackgroundPeople with intellectual disabilities have poor access to health care, which may be further compromised by a lack of accessible health information. To be effective, health information must be easily understood and remembered. People with intellectual disabilities learn better from multimodal information sources, and virtual reality offers a 3-dimensional (3D) computer-generated environment that can be used for providing information and learning. To date, research into virtual reality experiences for people with intellectual disabilities has been limited to skill-based training and leisure opportunities within the young to mid age ranges.ObjectiveThis study assessed the acceptability, usability, and potential utility of a virtual reality experience as a means of providing health care-related information to people with intellectual disabilities. We designed a prototype multimodal experience based on a hospital scenario and situated on an island in the Second Life 3D virtual world. We wanted to know how people of different ages and with varying levels of cognitive function would participate in the customized virtual environment, what they understood from being there, and what they remembered a week later.MethodsThe study drew on qualitative data. We used a participatory research approach that involved working alongside people with intellectual disabilities and their supporters in a community setting. Cognitive function was assessed, using the Matrix Analogies Test and the British Picture Vocabulary Scale, to describe the sample. Participants, supported by facilitators, were video recorded accessing and engaging with the virtual environment. We assessed recall 1 week later, using a specialized interview technique. Data were downloaded into NVivo 8 and analyzed using the framework analysis technique.ResultsStudy participants were 20 people aged between 20 and 80 years with mild to severe intellectual disabilities. All participants were able to access the environment and voluntarily stayed there for between 23 and 57 minutes. With facilitator support, all participants moved the avatar themselves. Participants engaged with the scenario as if they were actually there, indicating cognitive presence. Some referred back to previous medical experiences, indicating the potential for experiential knowledge to become the foundation of new learning and retention of knowledge. When interviewed, all participants remembered some aspects of the environment.ConclusionsA sample of adults with intellectual disabilities of all ages, and with varying levels of cognitive function, accessed and enjoyed a virtual-world environment that drew on a health care-related scenario, and remembered aspects of it a week later. The small sample size limits generalizability of findings, but the potential shown for experiential learning to aid retention of knowledge on which consent is based appears promising. Successfully delivering health care-related information in a non-National Health Service setting indicates potential for delivery in in...
Using a 3D simulation of Brighton, we tested the feasibility of delivering highly interactive healthcare information to adults with learning disabilities via virtual world technology. Participants showed engagement and enjoyment, recalled details at interview, and in many cases asked to return.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.
hi@scite.ai
10624 S. Eastern Ave., Ste. A-614
Henderson, NV 89052, USA
Copyright © 2024 scite LLC. All rights reserved.
Made with 💙 for researchers
Part of the Research Solutions Family.