Background
The Assisted Decision-Making (Capacity) Act 2015 was enacted by Dáil Éireann in December 2015. This act provides for a reform of the law regarding people who require or who may require assistance in exercising their decision-making capacity. This Act has significance for the healthcare sector particularly as it pertains to engaging patients and/or their families in treatment decision-making and care planning. In practice, those patients with cognitive impairment, particularly dementia, and those with complex needs requiring composite decisions present the greatest challenge to healthcare professionals practicing in accordance with this legislation. Patients with complex needs requiring multifaceted decisions are often over 70 years of age and present in acute hospitals experiencing some form of cognitive impairment.
Project Aim
The aim of this project is to develop an educational tool which will promote understanding of assisted decision making among healthcare professionals working in acute care settings and to encourage their adoption of this understanding into their care planning with older people. Research Design
The research design for this project combines a multi-method approach including realist review, qualitative exploration, participatory learning and action sets and implementation science frameworks. This incremental and context sensitive approach to research design is appropriate for the exploration, development and evaluation of a complex behaviour change intervention.
Impact
The targeted beneficiaries of this project are healthcare professionals working within acute care settings as well as older people and their family carers who are interacting with the acute care system. The potential impact is improved communication between healthcare professionals and their patients in relation to assisted decision-making and care planning. This educational intervention will be embedded into the pedagogic strategies of the RCPI in their postgraduate education curricula as well as the continuous professional development scheme.
