Sophie Stammers and Lisa Bortolotti, 'Mitigating the risk of assumptions and biases in assessments of mental capacity' (University of Birmingham, 23/3/20)
Academic briefing note about assessment of mental capacity "Mental health and social care professionals routinely assess the capacity of people to make decisions about their lives, in accordance with the Mental Capacity Act 2005 (MCA). The briefing note outlines how the functional approach to testing capacity in the MCA underdetermines decisions, describing the risks for stereotypes and assumptions to affect outcomes. It advocates for the need for specific training for professionals using the MCA to enable them to recognise the role of value judgements in capacity decisions, to mitigate the effects of stereotyping and assumptions, and to improve decision making."