Welcome to season two of Capacity Conversations: Your Thoughts or Mine! We are thrilled to be back with brand new episodes as well as some exciting guests. Today, we are joined by Jay Krushell and Grant Goldrich of Treefort Technologies to talk all about ID verification and capacity. 

The Treefort project was started in 2017, when Jay was working as lawyer. Every now and then, Jay would encounter a situation where his clients were unable to meet in person. This would often result in their transaction being delayed, costs being increased and/or the client being inconvenienced when they were forced to attend a meeting in Jay’s office at a time that did not work well for them. To solve this problem, Jay along with his wife Kim, assembled a team and incorporated Treefort Technologies Inc. (TTI) in January of 2020. The team then got to work on creating a digital ID verification (IDV) tool that allows users to verify the identity of the individual they are dealing with in accordance with the FINTRAC Regulations and the Model Client ID Rules adopted by Law Societies across Canada. The IDV component was launched in September 2020 and in July 2021, Stewart Title Guaranty Company purchased a 51% interest in TTI. Since then, the TTI team has grown and work on the Treefort platform has continued to the point where it is now the gold standard in digital ID technology across Canada. 

In this episode, we’ll discuss the importance of verifying a client’s ID, the challenges in doing so, and what Treefort does to make this easier. Besides this, we’ll also talk about the various professional standards that exist when verifying a client’s ID, how COVID has changed those, and the crossroad lawyers are in now. Last but certainly not least, Jay and Grant will tell us how Treefort Technologies has married the idea of verifying someone’s ID with capacity. Keep listening to learn more! 

Capacity Conversations: Your Thoughts or Mine is a podcast about capacity and decision-making in Canada, presented by the Capacity Clinic. Each day, Canadian professionals face growing numbers of vulnerable adults or their substitute decision makers, stressing historical practices for assuring capacity when important decisions are being made. The pandemic has given us a glimpse of the future where the numbers of elderly clients, their mobility considerations, and the need for professional diligence in determining capacity are all growing. Issues requiring legal and clinical support arise frequently, and that's where we come in. At Capacity Clinic, our mission is to improve supported decision-making and capacity evaluation. We do this by creating Canadian expertise and intellectual property, designing and developing educational programming, and supplying individual consultations from leading experts. In this podcast, we’ll dive into all aspects of capacity and decision-making so that you know what to do if you’re working with, know, or are someone in need of a capacity evaluation. 

Welcome to the season one finale of Capacity Conversations! Today, we are excited to have a full house as we welcome the Capacity Clinic’s medical director Dr. Shulman and advisory board member Dr. Pachet back to the podcast, as well as our CEO Nathan Spaling. We are also joined by Certified Estates and Trusts Law Specialist, Jasmine Sweatman!

In this episode, we are sharing some insight into our recent participation at the Canadian Academy of Geriatric Psychiatry annual conference, where we had an opportunity to present some of our work on medical-legal innovations in the area of capacity evaluations. We'll discuss common themes that emerged from the conference such as the attempts to identify red flags for someone's incapacity and how someone could be vulnerable to undue influence. We'll also touch on the discussion that took place surrounding the capacity to consent to MAiD, the increasing demand for capacity evaluations, and the crossover between medicine and law when it comes to capacity. Last but not least, we'll also share details about the tools we're developing to help protect those living with diminishing capacity. Keep listening to hear more!

To learn more about the suggested amendment for the capacity to consent to MAiD and the discussion that took place at the CAGP conference on this topic, read Dr. Shulman's post on the All About Estates blog here. 

Capacity Conversations: Your Thoughts or Mine is a podcast about capacity and decision-making in Canada, presented by the Capacity Clinic. Each day, Canadian professionals face growing numbers of vulnerable adults or their substitute decision makers, stressing historical practices for assuring capacity when important decisions are being made. The pandemic has given us a glimpse of the future where the numbers of elderly clients, their mobility considerations, and the need for professional diligence in determining capacity are all growing. Issues requiring legal and clinical support arise frequently, and that's where we come in. At Capacity Clinic, our mission is to improve supported decision-making and capacity evaluation. We do this by creating Canadian expertise and intellectual property, designing and developing educational programming, and supplying individual consultations from leading experts. We are also proud to have developed a best practices model for the use of video conferencing in capacity assessment. In this podcast, we’ll dive into all aspects of capacity and decision-making so that you know what to do if you’re working with, know, or are someone in need of a capacity evaluation.

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Welcome back to Capacity Conversations! Today, we welcome the Capacity Clinic’s advisory board member Dr. Pachet back to the podcast, as well as our CEO Nathan Spaling!

In this episode, we’ll be chatting about the role of expert witnesses in capacity cases. We'll touch on examples where an expert witness may be called to court, disputes where an additional capacity evaluation may be needed, and how experts might contribute to resolving disputes before they get to court. Last but not least, we'll explore professional boundaries, the role of the expert witness when it comes to undue influence, and the role of clinical experts in the education of other medical professionals. Keep listening to learn more about capacity and the court!

Capacity Conversations: Your Thoughts or Mine is a podcast about capacity and decision-making in Canada, presented by the Capacity Clinic. Each day, Canadian professionals face growing numbers of vulnerable adults or their substitute decision makers, stressing historical practices for assuring capacity when important decisions are being made. The pandemic has given us a glimpse of the future where the numbers of elderly clients, their mobility considerations, and the need for professional diligence in determining capacity are all growing. Issues requiring legal and clinical support arise frequently, and that's where we come in. At Capacity Clinic, our mission is to improve supported decision-making and capacity evaluation. We do this by creating Canadian expertise and intellectual property, designing and developing educational programming, and supplying individual consultations from leading experts. We are also proud to have developed a best practices model for the use of video conferencing in capacity assessment. In this podcast, we’ll dive into all aspects of capacity and decision-making so that you know what to do if you’re working with, know, or are someone in need of a capacity evaluation.

Instagram: @capacity_clinic

LinkedIn: Capacity Clinic 

Facebook: Capacity Clinic

Welcome back to Capacity Conversations! Today, we welcome the Capacity Clinic’s medical director Dr. Richard Shulman and advisory board member Dr. Arlin Pachet back to the podcast to chat about how dementia and delirium can impact a person’s decision-making capacity.

In this episode, we'll breakdown what dementia and delirium are, how they're connected, and the key differences between the two. Besides this, we'll also discuss timing when it comes to capacity evaluations for those with dementia and/or delirium and why this is important for professionals who are helping people make important decisions to know. Last but not least, we'll talk about the importance of non-clinicians knowing someone's medical history before helping them make important decisions, consulting medical professionals if there is cause for concern, and how a determination of capacity is not based on a diagnosis of dementia and/or delirium. Keep listening to learn more about dementia and delirium when it comes to capacity!

Capacity Conversations: Your Thoughts or Mine is a podcast about capacity and decision-making in Canada, presented by the Capacity Clinic. Each day, Canadian professionals face growing numbers of vulnerable adults or their substitute decision makers, stressing historical practices for assuring capacity when important decisions are being made. The pandemic has given us a glimpse of the future where the numbers of elderly clients, their mobility considerations, and the need for professional diligence in determining capacity are all growing. Issues requiring legal and clinical support arise frequently, and that's where we come in. At Capacity Clinic, our mission is to improve supported decision-making and capacity evaluation. We do this by creating Canadian expertise and intellectual property, designing and developing educational programming, and supplying individual consultations from leading experts. We are also proud to have developed a best practices model for the use of video conferencing in capacity assessment. In this podcast, we’ll dive into all aspects of capacity and decision-making so that you know what to do if you’re working with, know, or are someone in need of a capacity evaluation.

The Sour Seven

Instagram: @capacity_clinic

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Welcome back to another episode of Capacity Conversations! Today, we are fortunate to be joined again by the Capacity Clinic’s medical director, Dr. Richard Shulman and Capacity Clinic advisory board member, Dr. Arlin Pachet.

In this episode, we’ll be diving into the role and value of retrospective capacity assessments while also detailing the difference between retrospective and contemporaneous evaluations, both of which we provide at the Capacity Clinic. Keep listening to learn more about what exactly a retrospective assessment is and how, when, and why it may come into play. 

Capacity Conversations: Your Thoughts or Mine is a podcast about capacity and decision-making in Canada, presented by the Capacity Clinic. Each day, Canadian professionals face growing numbers of vulnerable adults or their substitute decision makers, stressing historical practices for assuring capacity when important decisions are being made. The pandemic has given us a glimpse of the future where the numbers of elderly clients, their mobility considerations, and the need for professional diligence in determining capacity are all growing. Issues requiring legal and clinical support arise frequently, and that's where we come in. At Capacity Clinic, our mission is to improve supported decision-making and capacity evaluation. We do this by creating Canadian expertise and intellectual property, designing and developing educational programming, and supplying individual consultations from leading experts. In this podcast, we’ll dive into all aspects of capacity and decision-making so that you know what to do if you’re working with, know, or are someone in need of a capacity evaluation.

Instagram: @capacity_clinic

LinkedIn: Capacity Clinic 

Facebook: Capacity Clinic

Welcome back to another episode of Capacity Conversations! Thank you for joining us as we talk more about the circumstances where a capacity assessment may be needed and how they are done.

Capacity assessments aren’t a “one-size-fits-all" situation. In other words, one standard capacity evaluation cannot work for each type of decision because each decision a person makes comes with its own unique complexities. As we make different types of decisions, the information we need to understand changes and the kind of reasoning we have to do to make a choice is different. In this episode, we will explore how the capacity to make a choice can be task specific.

Here from the Capacity Clinic to help us take a deeper look is Dr. Richard Shulman, Medical Director and CEO & founder, Nathan Spaling. We are also joined by Certified Estates and Trusts Law Specialist, Jasmine Sweatman. Keep listening to learn more about how capacity is task specific. 

Capacity Conversations: Your Thoughts or Mine is a podcast about capacity and decision-making in Canada, presented by the Capacity Clinic. Each day, Canadian professionals face growing numbers of vulnerable adults or their substitute decision makers, stressing historical practices for assuring capacity when important decisions are being made. The pandemic has given us a glimpse of the future where the numbers of elderly clients, their mobility considerations, and the need for professional diligence in determining capacity are all growing. Issues requiring legal and clinical support arise frequently, and that's where we come in. At Capacity Clinic, our mission is to improve supported decision-making and capacity evaluation. We do this by creating Canadian expertise and intellectual property, designing and developing educational programming, and supplying individual consultations from leading experts. We are also proud to have developed a best practices model for the use of video conferencing in capacity assessment. In this podcast, we’ll dive into all aspects of capacity and decision-making so that you know what to do if you’re working with, know, or are someone in need of a capacity evaluation.

Instagram: @capacity_clinic

LinkedIn: Capacity Clinic 

Facebook: Capacity Clinic

Welcome back to another episode of Capacity Conversations! Today, we are pleased to welcome the Capacity Clinic’s medical director Dr. Richard Shulman and Certified Estates and Trusts Law Specialist Jasmine Sweatman to the podcast! We are thrilled to have them both here to discuss a very important topic: identifying the signs of vulnerability.

Richard is a geriatric psychiatrist and a member of the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Toronto. His practice is divided between teaching, hospital practice at Trillium Health Partners, Mississauga Hospital and Queensway Health Centre, as well as at two long term care homes. He has a speciality interest in capacity issues, including serving as an expert witness when capacity issues are litigated.

Jasmine Sweatman is a specialist in estate law and operates a practice in that area. Jasmine has published and spoken extensively on legal issues affecting estates, especially in relation to capacity issues. She is the author of several books on aspects of estate law. Jasmine has provided valuable feedback that has helped shape our approaches and tools to assist families and professionals addressing capacity issues.

In this episode we’ll discuss vulnerability and how it relates to capacity, the way in which different disciplines don’t have a common way of looking at vulnerability, and some of the initial signs of vulnerability a professional should be looking for in their clients. We’ll also talk about the advantage of developing a structured screener and so much more. Keep listening to learn more about identifying signs of vulnerability!

Capacity Conversations: Your Thoughts or Mine is a podcast about capacity and decision-making in Canada, presented by the Capacity Clinic. Each day, Canadian professionals face growing numbers of vulnerable adults or their substitute decision makers, stressing historical practices for assuring capacity when important decisions are being made. The pandemic has given us a glimpse of the future where the numbers of elderly clients, their mobility considerations, and the need for professional diligence in determining capacity are all growing. Issues requiring legal and clinical support arise frequently, and that's where we come in. At Capacity Clinic, our mission is to improve supported decision-making and capacity evaluation. We do this by creating Canadian expertise and intellectual property, designing and developing educational programming, and supplying individual consultations from leading experts. We are also proud to have developed a best practices model for the use of video conferencing in capacity assessment. In this podcast, we’ll dive into all aspects of capacity and decision-making so that you know what to do if you’re working with, know, or are someone in need of a capacity evaluation.

Instagram: @capacity_clinic

LinkedIn: Capacity Clinic 

Facebook: Capacity Clinic

Welcome to the very first episode of Capacity Conversations: Your Thoughts or Mine?. We are thrilled to be launching our podcast where we’ll be talking about capacity and decision-making in Canada.

Capacity Conversations: Your Thoughts or Mine is a podcast about capacity and decision-making in Canada, presented by the Capacity Clinic. Each day, Canadian professionals face growing numbers of vulnerable adults or their substitute decision makers, stressing historical practices for assuring capacity when important decisions are being made. The pandemic has given us a glimpse of the future where the numbers of elderly clients, their mobility considerations, and the need for professional diligence in determining capacity are all growing. Issues requiring legal and clinical support arise frequently, and that's where we come in. At Capacity Clinic, our mission is to improve supported decision-making and capacity evaluation. We do this by creating Canadian expertise and intellectual property, designing and developing educational programming, and supplying individual consultations from leading experts. We are also proud to have developed a best practices model for the use of video conferencing in capacity assessment. In this podcast, we’ll dive into all aspects of capacity and decision-making so that you know what to do if you’re working with, know, or are someone in need of a capacity evaluation.

Instagram: @capacity_clinic

LinkedIn: Capacity Clinic 

Facebook: Capacity Clinic