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Florack J, Abele C, Baisch S, Forstmeier S, Garmann D, Grond M, Hornke I, Karakaya T, Karneboge J, Knopf B, Lindl G, Müller T, Oswald F, Pfeiffer N, Prvulovic D, Poth A, Reif A, Schmidtmann I, Theile-Schürholz A, Ullrich H, Haberstroh J. Project DECIDE, part II: decision-making places for people with dementia in Alzheimer's disease: supporting advance decision-making by improving person-environment fit. BMC Med Ethics 2023; 24:26. [PMID: 37118723 PMCID: PMC10148477 DOI: 10.1186/s12910-023-00905-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/24/2023] [Accepted: 03/29/2023] [Indexed: 04/30/2023] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND The UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, and the reformed guardianship law in Germany, require that persons with a disability, including people with dementia in Alzheimer's disease (PwAD), are supported in making self-determined decisions. This support is achieved through communication. While content-related communication is a deficit of PwAD, relational aspects of communication are a resource. Research in supported decision-making (SDM) has investigated the effectiveness of different content-related support strategies for PwAD but has only succeeded in improving understanding, which, although one criterion of capacity to consent, is not sufficient to ensure overall capacity to consent. The aim of the 'spatial intervention study' of the DECIDE project is to examine an innovative resource-oriented SDM approach that focuses on relational aspects. We hypothesise that talking to PwAD in their familiar home setting (as opposed to a clinical setting) will reduce the complexity of the decision-making process and enhance overall capacity to consent. METHODS People with a suspected or confirmed diagnosis of dementia in Alzheimer's disease will be recruited from two memory clinics (N = 80). We will use a randomised crossover design to investigate the intervention effect of the decision-making place on capacity to consent. Besides reasoning capacity, which is part of overall capacity to consent and will be the primary outcome, various secondary outcomes (e.g., other aspects of capacity to consent, subjective task complexity, decisional conflict) and suspected moderating or mediating variables (e.g., meaning of home, demographic characteristics) will be assessed. DISCUSSION The results of the study will be used to develop a new SDM strategy that is based on relational resources for PwAD. If a change in location achieves the anticipated improvement in capacity to consent, future research should focus on implementing this SDM strategy in a cost-effective manner in clinical practice. TRIAL REGISTRATION DRKS00030799 .
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Affiliation(s)
- Janina Florack
- Faculty V: School of Life Sciences, Department of Psychology, Psychological Aging Research (PAR), University of Siegen, Adolf-Reichwein-Str. 2a, 57068, Siegen, Germany.
- Klinikum Siegen, Siegen, Germany.
| | - Christina Abele
- Faculty V: School of Life Sciences, Department of Psychology, Psychological Aging Research (PAR), University of Siegen, Adolf-Reichwein-Str. 2a, 57068, Siegen, Germany
- University Medical Center of the Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, Mainz, Germany
| | - Stefanie Baisch
- Faculty V: School of Life Sciences, Department of Psychology, Psychological Aging Research (PAR), University of Siegen, Adolf-Reichwein-Str. 2a, 57068, Siegen, Germany
| | - Simon Forstmeier
- Faculty V: School of Life Sciences, Department of Psychology, Psychological Aging Research (PAR), University of Siegen, Adolf-Reichwein-Str. 2a, 57068, Siegen, Germany
| | - Daniel Garmann
- Faculty V: School of Life Sciences, Department of Psychology, Psychological Aging Research (PAR), University of Siegen, Adolf-Reichwein-Str. 2a, 57068, Siegen, Germany
- Klinikum Siegen, Siegen, Germany
| | | | | | - Tarik Karakaya
- University Hospital Frankfurt, Frankfurt Am Main, Germany
| | - Jonas Karneboge
- Faculty V: School of Life Sciences, Department of Psychology, Psychological Aging Research (PAR), University of Siegen, Adolf-Reichwein-Str. 2a, 57068, Siegen, Germany
| | | | - Gregor Lindl
- Faculty V: School of Life Sciences, Department of Psychology, Psychological Aging Research (PAR), University of Siegen, Adolf-Reichwein-Str. 2a, 57068, Siegen, Germany
- University Hospital Frankfurt, Frankfurt Am Main, Germany
| | - Tanja Müller
- Faculty V: School of Life Sciences, Department of Psychology, Psychological Aging Research (PAR), University of Siegen, Adolf-Reichwein-Str. 2a, 57068, Siegen, Germany
| | - Frank Oswald
- Goethe University Frankfurt, Frankfurt Am Main, Germany
| | - Nathalie Pfeiffer
- Faculty V: School of Life Sciences, Department of Psychology, Psychological Aging Research (PAR), University of Siegen, Adolf-Reichwein-Str. 2a, 57068, Siegen, Germany
- University Hospital Frankfurt, Frankfurt Am Main, Germany
| | | | - Aoife Poth
- Faculty V: School of Life Sciences, Department of Psychology, Psychological Aging Research (PAR), University of Siegen, Adolf-Reichwein-Str. 2a, 57068, Siegen, Germany
- University Hospital Frankfurt, Frankfurt Am Main, Germany
| | - Andreas Reif
- University Hospital Frankfurt, Frankfurt Am Main, Germany
| | - Irene Schmidtmann
- University Medical Center of the Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, Mainz, Germany
| | - Anna Theile-Schürholz
- Faculty V: School of Life Sciences, Department of Psychology, Psychological Aging Research (PAR), University of Siegen, Adolf-Reichwein-Str. 2a, 57068, Siegen, Germany
| | | | - Julia Haberstroh
- Faculty V: School of Life Sciences, Department of Psychology, Psychological Aging Research (PAR), University of Siegen, Adolf-Reichwein-Str. 2a, 57068, Siegen, Germany
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Badenhoop L, Baisch S, Penger S, Haberstroh J. The Role of Different Aspects of Communication Behavior in the Assessment of Capacity to Consent. GEROPSYCH 2023. [DOI: 10.1024/1662-9647/a000309] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 04/08/2023]
Abstract
Abstract: Any medical treatment that interferes with physical integrity requires the informed consent of a patient capable of such consent. For people with dementia, the capacity to consent is questioned even in the early course of the disease. Particularly diagnostic instruments like the MacArthur Competence Assessment Tool for Treatment (MacCAT-T) often deny people with dementia the capacity to consent because of high confounding of the results with patients’ verbal abilities. To date, it remains unclear whether not only verbal but also nonverbal communication is associated with assessments of capacity to consent. The current study investigates associations between patients’ verbal and nonverbal communication behaviors as assessed by the measure for Communication Behavior in People with Dementia in Ambulant Settings (CODEMamb) and capacity to consent as assessed by the MacCAT-T. We expected the strongest positive associations for verbal communication behaviors compared to nonverbal communication behaviors. Data of N = 43 patients with dementia ( n = 8 capable of consent) were collected at two different German psychiatric clinics. The results show small to moderate correlations between the overall scores of CODEMamb and MacCAT-T. As expected, correlations were strongest for the verbal CODEMamb subscale. The results support current findings on the dependency of the MacCAT-T on verbal communication. Based on the findings, the discussion addresses how people with dementia can be enabled to make self-determined medical treatment decisions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Luise Badenhoop
- Psychological Aging Research, Department of Psychology, Faculty V: School of Life Sciences, University of Siegen, Germany
| | - Stefanie Baisch
- Psychological Aging Research, Department of Psychology, Faculty V: School of Life Sciences, University of Siegen, Germany
| | - Susanne Penger
- Psychological Aging Research, Department of Psychology, Faculty V: School of Life Sciences, University of Siegen, Germany
| | - Julia Haberstroh
- Psychological Aging Research, Department of Psychology, Faculty V: School of Life Sciences, University of Siegen, Germany
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Poth A, Penger S, Knebel M, Müller T, Pantel J, Oswald F, Haberstroh J. Empowering patients with dementia to make legally effective decisions: a randomized controlled trial on enhancing capacity to consent to treatment. Aging Ment Health 2023; 27:292-300. [PMID: 34989288 DOI: 10.1080/13607863.2021.2024797] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/18/2023]
Abstract
Objectives: As our society ages, the incidence of age-related diseases increases and with it the number of medical treatments that require informed consent. Capacity to consent is often categorically questioned in persons with dementia (PwD) without appropriate assessment, depriving them of their right to autonomous decision-making. Supportive structures for PwD that comply with legal requirements are lacking. The EmMa project tried to overcome this shortcoming by developing and testing possible supportive measures to enhance the informed consent process for PwD.Method: These enhanced consent procedures (ECPs) were tested in a randomized controlled trial with 40 PwD. It was hypothesized that strengths-based ECPs could improve capacity to consent to a drug treatment in PwD as measured with a semi-structured interview.Results: Against the expectations, no effect of the ECPs on capacity to consent could be found, but the ECPs improved understanding of information in PwD.Conclusion: To empower PwD in clinical settings, however, all aspects of capacity to consent should be targeted with specific aids that are implemented carefully and selectively. More research on possible aids for ECPs is urgently needed in order to enable ethically and legally robust informed consent. In particular, effective ways to improve both reasoning and appreciation are yet to be found.
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Affiliation(s)
- Aoife Poth
- Psychological Ageing Research (PAR), University of Siegen, Siegen, Germany
| | - Susanne Penger
- Psychological Ageing Research (PAR), University of Siegen, Siegen, Germany
| | - Maren Knebel
- Interdisciplinary Ageing Research (IAW), Goethe University Frankfurt, Frankfurt, Germany
| | - Tanja Müller
- Psychological Ageing Research (PAR), University of Siegen, Siegen, Germany
| | - Johannes Pantel
- Institute of General Practice in Frankfurt am Main, Goethe University Frankfurt, Frankfurt, Germany
| | - Frank Oswald
- Interdisciplinary Ageing Research (IAW), Goethe University Frankfurt, Frankfurt, Germany
| | - Julia Haberstroh
- Psychological Ageing Research (PAR), University of Siegen, Siegen, Germany
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