The Mental Capacity Act: some implications for black and minority ethnic elders.

摘要

The Mental Capacity Act 2005 (MCA) was partially implemented in April 2007 and fully implemented from 1 October 2007 in England and Wales. Lack of decision-making capacity (DMC) is associated with cognitive impairment and dementia . The proportion of adults aged 65 years and above in black and minority ethnic (BME) groups is rapidly increasing . The prevalence of dementia in BME groups is either similar to or higher than the indigenous white British group [4-7]. There were 531,909 BME elders in the 2001 population census . One study estimated that 11,860 of these BME elders had dementia in 2004 in the United Kingdom . Therefore, the increasing number of BME elders will be assessed under the MCA. The Code of Practice [10] accompanying the MCA recognises that language, culture and religion can influence the application of the MCA. The MCA has been fully implemented for 1 month now and therefore, it is difficult to draw on personal anecdotal experience. However, many of the issues discussed below, pertaining to the MCA, have been experienced anecdotally by the authors in the implementation of the Mental Health Act, 1983, over many years.