United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and its implications for compulsory treatment and mental health nursing

2014 ◽  
Vol 23 (3) ◽  
pp. 193-194 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anthony J. O'Brien ◽  
Katey Thom
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
United Nations ◽  
Compulsory Treatment ◽  
Mental Health Nursing ◽  
Persons With Disabilities ◽  
United Nations Convention ◽  
Health Nursing

Life, liberty and the therapeutic relationship: examining the place of compulsory treatment in modern psychiatry

2020 ◽  
pp. 103985622092431
Author(s):  
Lachlan Hegarty ◽  
Mikaela Brusasco
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
United Nations ◽  
Therapeutic Relationship ◽  
Patient Engagement ◽  
Compulsory Treatment ◽  
Persons With Disabilities ◽  
Personal Liberty ◽  
Societal Benefits ◽  
Patient’S Autonomy ◽  
United Nations Convention

Objectives: Compulsory treatment in psychiatry is controversial and its use has been increasingly critiqued following the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities in 2006. This essay seeks to explore whether the restriction of personal liberty and autonomy that compulsory treatment requires can be justified on ethical or medical grounds. Conclusions: Compulsory treatment is not without potential harms to the doctor–patient therapeutic relationship and patient engagement with mental health services. However, we contend that the clinical and societal benefits of compulsory treatment justify its practice and that, paradoxically, compulsory treatment is necessary for the restoration of a patient’s autonomy rather than its dispossession.

scholarly journals Mental health legislation in Botswana

2018 ◽  
Vol 16 (03) ◽  
pp. 68-70
Author(s):  
J. Maphisa Maphisa
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Human Rights ◽  
Mental Disorders ◽  
United Nations ◽  
Persons With Disabilities ◽  
Mental Health Legislation ◽  
United Nations Convention ◽  
The United Nations ◽  
Health Legislation

The Mental Disorders Act of 1969 is the primary legislation relating to mental health in Botswana. Despite the country not being a signatory to the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, its Act has a self-rated score of four out of five on compliance to human rights covenants. However, it can be argued that the Act does not adequately espouse a human rights- and patient-centred approach to legislation. It is hoped that ongoing efforts to revise the Act will address the limitations discussed in this article.

A new United Nations ‘disability’ convention

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
George Szmukler
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Decision Making ◽  
United Nations ◽  
Involuntary Treatment ◽  
Persons With Disabilities ◽  
United Nations Convention ◽  
The United Nations

The United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) presents in a tailored form the rights of such persons. Mental health disabilities are included. While the Convention is most welcome, it is hugely challenging when it comes to involuntary treatment. Important authorities have interpreted it as excluding all forms of ‘substitute decision-making’. The Convention demands ‘respect for the rights, will and preferences’ of persons with disabilities. This chapter examines the meaning of ‘will’ and of ‘preference’. A problem arises when a person’s currently expressed ‘preference’ (or desire or wish) diverges from the person’s ‘will’ (taken to mean a person’s relatively enduring and deeply held value commitments). Both cannot be respected at the same time. Which should have precedence? The method of ‘interpretation’ discussed in Chapter 7 allows such a determination to be made, and aligns the ‘fusion law’ proposal with the objectives of the Convention.

scholarly journals LIFE HEALTHCARE ESIDIMENI: A (HUMAN RIGHTS) DREAM DEFERRED

Obiter ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 39 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Leoni van der Merwe
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
South Africa ◽  
Human Rights ◽  
United Nations ◽  
Policy Development ◽  
Persons With Disabilities ◽  
Mental Health Patients ◽  
United Nations Convention ◽  
Enforcement Mechanisms ◽  
Scarcity Of Resources

This article delves into South Africa’s compliance with its obligations in terms of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities in light of the deaths of 144 mental health patients transferred from the Life Healthcare Esidimeni facility to various nongovernmental organisations during 2016. Consideration is given to South Africa’s constitutional framework as well as the overall enforcement mechanisms and application of the said Convention in Africa given the existence of unique challenges such as HIV/AIDS, poverty and a scarcity of resources. The article recognises the importance of transcending beyond policy development, approval and publication to improve the lives of persons with disabilities in South Africa.

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