An international comparison of legal frameworks for supported and substitute decision-making in mental health services.

There have been important recent developments in law, research, policy and practice relating to supporting people with decision-making impairments, in particular when a person's wishes and preferences are unclear or inaccessible. A driver in this respect is the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD); the implications of the CRPD for policy and professional practices are currently debated. This article reviews and compares four legal frameworks for supported and substitute decision-making for people whose decision-making ability is impaired. In particular, it explores how these frameworks may apply to people with mental health problems. The four jurisdictions are: Ontario, Canada; Victoria, Australia; England and Wales, United Kingdom (UK); and Northern Ireland, UK. Comparisons and contrasts are made in the key areas of: the legal framework for supported and substitute decision-making; the criteria for intervention; the assessment process; the safeguards; and issues in practice. Thus Ontario has developed a relatively comprehensive, progressive and influential legal framework over the past 30 years but there remain concerns about the standardisation of decision-making ability assessments and how the laws work together. In Australia, the Victorian Law Reform Commission (2012) has recommended that the six different types of substitute decision-making under the three laws in that jurisdiction, need to be simplified, and integrated into a spectrum that includes supported decision-making. In England and Wales the Mental Capacity Act 2005 has a complex interface with mental health law. In Northern Ireland it is proposed to introduce a new Mental Capacity (Health, Welfare and Finance) Bill that will provide a unified structure for all substitute decision-making. The discussion will consider the key strengths and limitations of the approaches in each jurisdiction and identify possible ways that further progress can be made in law, policy and practice.

The right of caregivers to access health information of relatives with mental illness.

This article reviews the legal, ethical and practical challenges of complying with the Ontario Personal Health Information Protection Act (PHIPA) within the context of a Canadian mental health system that is overburdened and under resourced. The advent of deinstitutionalization has placed significantly increased responsibilities on the families of mentally ill individuals. While research evidences that involving family members in the care of their mentally ill relatives improves treatment outcomes, mental health practitioners constantly face the challenge of engaging family caregivers while also complying with privacy laws. The authors propose an Ontario Caregiver Recognition Act (OCRA) to formally recognize family caregivers as informal health information custodians based on the practice of other jurisdictions which incorporate the rights of family members actively engaged in providing care to their mentally ill relatives.

Community treatment orders: beyond hospital utilization rates examining the association of community treatment orders with community engagement and supportive housing.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the association of community treatment orders (CTO) with community engagement and housing arrangements for one population of psychiatric patients in Ontario, Canada. Socio demographic characteristics and health service utilization information were collected for each patient placed on a CTO during a 3 year period. Information was collected for each of the 84 patients when a CTO was first issued and then updated to reflect both the patient's ongoing involvement with the legislation and related clinical outcomes. A significant increase in the number of community services and a shift to supportive housing arrangements was found for patients following issuance of a CTO.

Community treatment orders: profile of a Canadian experience.

OBJECTIVE: This study reports the first published Canadian profile of a sample of psychiatric patients from the Royal Ottawa Hospital in Ottawa, Ontario, who were issued community treatment orders (CTOs). METHOD: We undertook a population study of sociodemographic and health care use patterns from January 2001 to September 2003, using a standardized information collection tool. RESULTS: The issuance of CTOs was associated with a statistically significant reduction in the number and length of hospital admissions and increased use of supportive community-based services and supportive housing. CONCLUSION: CTOs are effective tools for allowing patients to live in the least restrictive setting possible while they receive diverse services. They also effectively reduce rates and lengths of readmission to hospital.