Dr. Mira Zein, Associate Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Science at Stanford University, walks us through decisional capacity determinations.

This is a great episode for learners rotating through a consultation-liaison psychiatry service, and will really help you shine on rounds when you quote the Appelbaum-Grisso criteria (seriously, do it)! We also invite psychiatry residents and CL psychiatrists to share this episode with their favorite primary team to help non-psychiatrists make capacity determinations on their own... They are often best suited to do so!

Dr. Zein walks us through the Appelbaum-Grisso criteria and discusses each criterion (communication, appreciation, understanding, rationality) in detail. This discussion goes beyond a textbook understanding of the topic, delving into several difficult cases of determining decisional capacity. We discuss common reasons for psychiatric consultation regarding capacity, and how to navigate difficult conversations when fielding consults. You will also learn about common illnesses that can cause diminished capacity, and how to proceed if a patient is found to lack decisional capacity (for a certain decision, at a certain time 😉).

Key resources:

1) APA Resource Document on Decisional Capacity Determinations in Consultation-Liaison Psychiatry: A Guide for the General Psychiatrist (2019)

2) Seminal Article on Appelbaum-Grisso Criteria (Appelbaum 1988)

3) Evaluating Capacity: Appelbaum’s Framework Interpreted Diagrammatically (Bari 2023)

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