Investigating an education intervention for the assessment of decision-making capacity: a qualitative approach

Abstract

The outcome of a decision-making capacity (DMC) assessment can remove a person’s autonomy to make decisions for themselves. Recent research in New Zealand has highlighted a lack of training for clinicians working in this area of clinical practice and varied approaches to conducting these assessments. A total of 21 participants were guided through an education intervention consisting of completing the Goodfellow Unit of Capacity e-learning modules and attending an online zoom workshop on the Toolkit for Assessing Capacity. Qualitative interviews were conducted after a period of 4–8 weeks to allow for implementation of learnings. The Goodfellow e-learning was found to be relevant, digestible and an essential training. The Toolkit was reported to be useful, but further standardisation and guidance was requested. A call was made for more formal training to be provided for clinicians working in this space, and it is recommended that a more structured and succinct guideline is created.