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BJSW Advance Access originally published online on March 7, 2007
British Journal of Social Work 2007 37(3):557-564; doi:10.1093/bjsw/bcm015
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© The Author 2007. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of The British Association of Social Workers. All rights reserved.

Critical Commentary

Who Decides Now? Protecting and Empowering Vulnerable Adults Who Lose the Capacity to Make Decisions for Themselves

Robert Johns

Robert Johns is Head of Social Work at the University of East London. He teaches social work law and leads the qualifying Masters Programme run jointly with the Tavistock and Portman NHS Trust.

Correspondence to Robert Johns, School of Social Sciences, Media and Cultural Studies, University of East London, Docklands Campus, 4–6 University Way, London E16 2RD, UK. E-mail: r.g.johns{at}uel.ac.uk

The implementation of the 2005 Mental Capacity Act in England and Wales heralds a new era for social work practitioners and researchers. Protecting and empowering vulnerable adults—an important element of adult-care social work—relies on a legal framework that attempts to balance adults’ rights with the desire to protect them. The new Act is part of that framework, addressing the fundamental issue of when and how decisions can be made on behalf of people who lose decision-making abilities (‘capacity’). The Act encompasses the meaning of incapacity and best interests, advance directives concerning treatment, managing people’s affairs and making decisions for them, overseeing the delegation process, and research. In explaining how the Act addresses some of these challenges, the article alerts practitioners and researchers to the key areas in which the Act will make a major impact.

Keywords: social work and law, adult care, vulnerable adults, mental capacity, consent, protection, research ethics


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This article has been cited by other articles:


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J. Manthorpe, J. Rapaport, and N. Stanley
Expertise and Experience: People with Experiences of Using Services and Carers' Views of the Mental Capacity Act 2005
Br. J. Soc. Work, February 16, 2008; (2008) bcm154v1.
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