International Journal of Healthcare Simulation

Background and aim:

An assessment of mental capacity involves determining if a person can make a decision, or whether this needs to be done in their best interests [1]. The Mental Capacity Act (MCA) 2005, provides a legal framework that protects people who might not be able to make decisions for themselves and guides professionals during their practice. Research has shown inconsistencies on how the Mental Capacity Act is applied in health and social care settings [2], therefore ensuring that professionals have are provided with the right support to confidently apply the act should be a priority. Simulation has been effectively used in healthcare education [3] and could also be implemented to support this area of practice. The Homerton Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust’s Simulation Team and Adult Safeguarding Team, jointly worked in developing a simulation-based session which focused on mental capacity assessments in different situations. The aim of these sessions was to increase participants’ confidence to assess mental capacity and to manage challenging conversations during assessment.

Activity:

Scenarios were designed for hospital and community settings, the topics covered included consent to treatment, self-discharge, compliance with treatment, substance misuse, mental health problems, dementia and learning disability. The target audience was senior healthcare professionals that are regularly involved in making decisions related to mental capacity. Scenarios were designed to be flexible and adaptable according to the attendants’ needs, for example the learning disability scenarios involved the use of easy read information that was specifically provided or created. Actors were used for the role of patients or relatives, and members of the adult safeguarding team were part of the faculty to support or lead the debrief process.

Findings:

Between January 2023 and February 2023, the faculty delivered 3 sessions, with a total of 20 participants from different professional groups including doctors, nurses and allied health professionals. Anonymous feedback was collected at the end of each session, with 84.62% (n = 13) of respondents reporting their confidence in assessing mental capacity had increased. This led to gaining funding to continue delivering more sessions in 2023.

Conclusion:

Studies have shown that healthcare professionals’ confidence in applying the mental capacity act can vary [2]. Solely focusing on traditional forms of education might not be enough to prepare our workforce, in this case simulation-based training has provided a valuable tool to enhance participant’s abilities in relation to the mental capacity act and its application in healthcare practice.

Ethics statement:

Authors confirm that all relevant ethical standards for research conduct and dissemination have been met. The submitting author confirms that relevant ethical approval was granted, if applicable.