Legislation And Dementia Care
Unit 40 (P3) Task 7 (Junkala Rai)
Enduring Power of Attorney Act (EPA)
EPA is the legal authorization which acts on behalf of others in a legal matter. It provides with the opportunity to decide the right person who has full legal capacity to deal the assets and financial interests on behalf and what restrictions to place on the attorneys. Full legal capacity means that the person must be able to understand the nature and influence of the document they are finalizing and the nature and extent of their estate.
Mental Health Act 1983
The Mental Health Act 1983 is the law under which the person having mental problem can be admitted and treated in hospital against their wishes. It is also known as being ‘sectioned’. For this to happen, certain people must agree that you have a mental disorder which requires staying in hospital. You will have an assessment and be given treatment if needed. The Act covers the rights of people while they are detained, how they can be discharged from hospital and what after care they can expect to receive.
Mental Health Act 1983 deals with the patient with mental disorder. The primary role of this act is very effective. It is very beneficial as this act allows compulsory action to be taken to get the care and treatment people need for their own health and safety and for the protection of other people as well. It also sets out the processes which must be followed and monitored the safeguards for patients, so it ensures that patients are not treated inappropriately. The main purpose of the legislation is to make sure that people with serious mental health which threaten their health or safety or the safety of the public can be treated despite of their consent where it is necessary to prevent them from harming themselves or other people. It covers four categories of mental illness i.e. severe mental impairment, mental impairment, Psychopathic disorder and Mental illness.
Two of these are generally related with the people having learning difficulties and aggressiveness. Psychopathic disorder relates to people who have a persistent disorder or disability of the mind which leads to aggression. Mental illness includes people who may be deemed to be mentally. Only a small number of professionals are involved in applying the Act, those are approved social worker (ASW), GP and other doctors with special training in mental health.
Mental capacity act (2005)
It is a framework that protects and empowers people who cannot make decisions for themselves like people with dementia, learning difficulties and mental problems. It ensures people who lack capacity to get treated fairly in terms of education, job and medical care and in their best interests. The underlying philosophy of the act is to ensure that any decision made, or action taken on behalf of someone who lacks the capacity to make the decision or act for themselves is made in their best interests. The act support and assist people who may lack capacity and to discourage for those who are involve in caring for someone who lack capacity from being overly restrictive or controlling. The act also aims to balance an individual's right to make decisions for themselves with their right to be protected from harm if they lack capacity.
The Equality Act 2010
People with dementia go through different discrimination in their daily life for a number of reasons. Since elderly people mostly have dementia, they are facing the different issues of discrimination. The equality act helps people by making it illegal for people to be treated less favorably because of dementia disease.
Human Rights Act
People with dementia are at high risk of discernment and violations of their human rights because they are incapable to challenge abuses of their human rights or to report what is going on in their life. They faced a poorer quality life than the general population. The act allows people with the rights not to be treated in an inhuman or degrading way. Inhuman treatment means treating people causing severe mental or physical suffering whereas degrading treatment means treatment that is humiliating or undignified. The human have right to freedom or liberty, right ot to be discriminated against and right to life. Human right acts protect an individual’s life in all circumstances and ensure not to take away a person’s life.
Data Protection Act
The act safeguards the people with dementia from any sharing of information that is related to the patient outside the premises. It controls how the information is used by organizations such as hospital, care home, residential home or any community center. These all organisations are responsible for using data and it should be used in a way that is adequate, relevant and not excessive.
Putting People First: A shared vision and commitment to the transformation of adult social care
Elderly people with dementia need equality of citizenship in every aspect of their lives from housing to employment and to leisure. It is necessary to regulate a long term funding of the care and support system in order to ensure that it is fair, sustainable and clear about the respective responsibilities of the state, family and individual. Through government, a shared vision and main aspiration is to put an individual first through a reflective improvement of public services enabling to live their life in their own ways, it will ensure that confident are of high quality, are safe and encourage their own individual needs for independence, well-being with formality. It will bring out the shared ambitions and rates which will classify the revolution of adult social care. It will recognize that the sector will work across schedules with users and carers to change people’s experience of local support and services.
Living Well with Dementia- the National Dementia Strategy:
This strategy provides a strategic framework within local service. It delivers quality improvements to dementia services and report health inequalities that link to dementia. It gives advice and proper guidance to the content of high-quality services for dementia and helps for health and social care commissioners and providers in the development, planning and monitoring of services. The Dementia Approach arranges 17 guidance which the government wants the NHS, government and alternatives to contribute for the development of dementia care service in better way. The guidance focus on three main subjects which is living well with dementia, early diagnosis and promoting and understanding dementia.
dementia rights: accessed 30/05/15
Stretch, B and Whitehouse, M (2010) Health and social care Level3. Book 2 Personal Education Ltd Essex: accessed 30/05/15