
Decisional Capacity
Medical and Philosophical Perspectives
Oxford University Press Inc
Will be published approx. on 6. January 2027
Book
Paperback/Softback
344 pages
978-0-19-762514-9 (ISBN)
Description
Decisional capacity assessments are a routine yet critical component of healthcare practice worldwide, profoundly influencing the trajectory of patients' lives. These evaluations carry significant psychological and ethical weight, as they determine the extent to which individuals should be granted the authority to make decisions about their own care. Formal assessments are designed to evaluate whether a patient's decision-making autonomy may be justifiably limited, potentially resulting in restrictions not only on their choices, but to the information provided to them for own rational deliberation. Decisional Capacity: Medical and Philosophical Perspectives offers a comprehensive, interdisciplinary resource for clinicians navigating these complex and consequential determinations.
This volume highlights the vital role ethicists play in supporting clinicians as they navigate the complex challenges of assessing decisional capacity and making ethically justifiable care decisions. Philosophers and theorists further contribute by examining the conceptual and logical foundations of standard assessment procedures, exploring how these determinations intersect with broader questions about autonomy and human dignity.
Decisional Capacity: Medical and Philosophical Perspectives features sixteen chapters authored by leading experts across psychiatry, clinical psychology, neurology, oncology, philosophy, bioethics, and law. Despite the wide-reaching relevance of decisional capacity, this is the first interdisciplinary volume to offer both practical clinical guidance and critical philosophical analysis, providing a uniquely comprehensive resource for professionals across the healthcare spectrum.
This volume highlights the vital role ethicists play in supporting clinicians as they navigate the complex challenges of assessing decisional capacity and making ethically justifiable care decisions. Philosophers and theorists further contribute by examining the conceptual and logical foundations of standard assessment procedures, exploring how these determinations intersect with broader questions about autonomy and human dignity.
Decisional Capacity: Medical and Philosophical Perspectives features sixteen chapters authored by leading experts across psychiatry, clinical psychology, neurology, oncology, philosophy, bioethics, and law. Despite the wide-reaching relevance of decisional capacity, this is the first interdisciplinary volume to offer both practical clinical guidance and critical philosophical analysis, providing a uniquely comprehensive resource for professionals across the healthcare spectrum.
More details
Language
English
Place of publication
New York
United States
Product notice
Paperback (trade)
Unsewn / adhesive bound
Illustrations
1
Dimensions
Height: 235 mm
Width: 156 mm
Weight
5 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-19-762514-9 (9780197625149)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Persons
Christian Carrozzo is a philosopher at the John J. Lynch, MD Center for Ethics and Adjunct Faculty at the Department of Philosophy, George Mason University, where he completed a master's fellowship and was honored with the Distinguished Alumnus Award in Philosophy by the College of Humanities and Social Sciences. He completed his PhD coursework in philosophy at the University at Albany, State University of New York. He has held academic appointments at The George Washington University, American University, and was a Neuroethics Visiting Scholar at Georgetown University. He writes on metaphysical and epistemological issues in the philosophy of mind and neuroscience, including reflection and metacognition, nonconceptual experience, and the ethics of consciousness. He is Managing Editor of the Journal of Hospital Ethics and has served as a specialist reviewer for the U.S. Department of Defense's Traumatic Brain Injury and Psychological Health Research Program. He contributes regularly to the American Philosophical Association and the International Society for the Philosophy of the Sciences of the Mind. Elspeth Cameron Ritchie is a forensic psychiatrist with expertise in military and veterans' issues. She has been Chief of Psychiatry at Medstar Washington Hospital Center since 2018. She retired from the U.S. Army in 2010, after holding numerous leadership positions, including Psychiatry Consultant. She trained at Harvard, George Washington, Walter Reed, and the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences (USUHS), and has completed fellowships in both forensic as well as preventive and disaster psychiatry. She is a Professor of Psychiatry at USUHS, Georgetown University, and The George Washington University. An internationally recognized expert, she brings a unique public health approach to the management of disaster and combat mental health issues. She has over 250 publications in the areas of forensics, disaster, suicide, ethics, military combat psychiatry, and women's health issues. Edited volumes include Women at War (OUP, 2015) and Intimacy Post-Injury: Combat Trauma and Sexual Health (OUP, 2016).
Editor
EducatorEducator, John J. Lynch, MD Center for Ethics
Chair, PsychiatryChair, Psychiatry, Medstar Washington Hospital Center
Content
- 1. Decisional Capacity: Framing the Issues and Discovering Pathways
- 2. A History of Decisional Capacity and Its Assessment in Clinical Research and Clinical Medicine: Foundations of Valid Informed Consent
- 3. Psychiatric Disorders and Criminal Capacities: An Account of Competency in the Justice System
- 4. Capacity Evaluations in Patients with Major Neurocognitive Disorder
- 5. Capacity and Informed Consent Considerations in Patients with Delirium
- 6. Decisional Capacity and Severe Mental Illness
- 7. Substance Use Disorder and the Capacity to Refuse Treatment
- 8. The Unbefriended Patient in Need of Hospital Guardianship
- 9. Traumatic Brain Injury: Cognition, Capacity, and Autonomy
- 10. Supported Decision-Making Capacity Evaluation for Persons with Aphasia: Uplifting Voices and Promoting Equity
- 11. Cancer and Decisional Capacity: A Humanistic Approach
- 12. Challenges of Psychosocial Pre-Surgical Evaluations for Bariatric Surgery: A Role for Capacity Evaluation
- 13. Considering the Welfare Impact of a Choice When Assessing Decision-Making Capacity: Is It Always Wrong?
- 14. Assessing Decisional Capacity as an Educational Task
- 15. Mental Capacity and the Movement for Medical Aid in Dying: A Comparative Medicolegal Analysis
- 16. Forced Treatment for Substance Use Disorder: The Constitutionality of Caseyâs Law
- 17. Enhancing Personal Capacity: Beyond Cognitive Improvement towards Moral and Legal Responsibility