PP217 Lecture Notes - Lecture 3: Slippery Slope
Document Summary
Competency and practical judgement robert pepper smith. Four standards for the evaluation of competence exist. There is no one widely recognized framework for the assessment of competence. Depending on the professionals involved, the setting and the particular competence in question, one or more of the following frameworks may be used to determine the relevant parameters of an assessment: psychiatric status. Competency determinations in the recent past were marked by their simplicity one was either sane and responsible or mentally ill and incompetent. Mental illness is no longer linked to incompetency however. We recognize that one may be mentally ill, and competent to make decisions regarding one topic, but incompetent to make decisions regarding another: cognitive status. Cognitive status refers to factors such as memory and attention. These factors may figure prominently in a competency determination. Though such factors as impaired memory and disorientation may bear upon o(cid:374)e"s ability to make sound judgements, they do not do so necessarily: functional ability.
