About The Mental Capacity Act 2005
The Mental Capacity Act 2005 makes it clear that a diagnosis alone (e.g. dementia) does not necessarily mean that a person lacks capacity to make decisions.
Capacity is decision and time specific, so a person may have the capacity to make decisions about taking their medications for example, but not about how they budget.
A person living with dementia may be more confused in the evenings if they exhibit ‘sundowning’, so they may lack capacity for a particular decision if an assessment is conducted later in the day but not if done earlier.
The Mental Capacity Act makes it clear that all practical steps are taken to help and support the person in their decision making. A person must be assumed to have capacity unless an assessment of mental capacity demonstrates otherwise.
The functional test of mental capacity as defined in the Mental Capacity Act 2005 involves assessing if an individual is capable of understanding, retaining, weighing up and communicating the information relevant to the decision. Communication about the decision should be tailored to the individual, with the use of aids if required. A statement of a lack of capacity requires evidence of an impairment of the mind or brain which has caused the person to be unable to make the decision in question.