scholarly journals A review of documents assessing capacity and treatment needs to safeguard adults with incapacity

BJPsych Open ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 7 (S1) ◽  
pp. S82-S82
Author(s):  
Tereza Hoggard ◽  
Robin Holliday ◽  
Everett Julyan

AimsTo audit the completion of Adults with Incapacity (AWI) documents (Assessment of Capacity, Section 47 Certificate of Incapacity and Treatment Plan) to ensure they met the legal standards required. We hypothesised that the forms were not all completed comprehensively, particularly with regards to the Treatment Plans.MethodIn addition to being legal documents, AWI documents provide an important framework to guide clinicians when giving treatment and balancing patient safety with patient autonomy. Correctly completed documents help provide vulnerable patients with ethical and lawful treatment that allows them to be treated with respect and dignity.An audit was conducted across two Old Age Psychiatry wards at Ayrshire Central Hospital during October 2020. We assessed all AWI documents available on the wards (n = 20) using criteria based on the standards set by the Mental Welfare Commission for Scotland to ensure legal competence.Result95% of the forms were signed and dated, and the nature of the incapacity was given in 100% of the documents. On the other hand, 35% of the forms gave no indication of the presence or absence of a guardian. Only one of those identified as having a guardian was consulted with regards to the treatment plan. Another member of staff was consulted on the Treatment Plan in 45% of cases. 30% of the Treatment Plans were not precisely worded enough to be considered justifiable for treatment. In the Certificate of Incapacity, two out-of-date certificates were found, and staff were notified immediately. 45% of certificates were considered over-generalised with regards to the description under medical treatment.ConclusionOverall, the forms were mostly signed and dated, with the nature of incapacity given. The two areas that appeared to be the most problematic were the issue of identifying and discussing plans with a guardian, and the specification of treatment covered by both the Certificate of Incapacity and the Treatment Plan.Discussion with members of the healthcare team found some confusion over how to complete the forms and many cited a lack of formal training as the main reason for their uncertainty. In addition, accessing clear information online or on the wards on how to complete the forms was challenging. We intend to improve the completion of these documents by implementing teaching and a guidance poster, based on the areas that we identified as being problematic, and completing the audit cycle.

2016 ◽  
Vol 34 (7_suppl) ◽  
pp. 199-199 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jessica A. Zerillo ◽  
Erin Santacroce ◽  
Mary Ann Zimmerman ◽  
Melissa Freeman ◽  
Teresa Lau Greenberg ◽  
...  

199 Background: While team-based safety checks ensure safe prescribing of parenteral chemotherapy, oral chemotherapy is usually prescribed by a single clinician. With the growing use of oral chemotherapy, processes are needed to protect these vulnerable patients from prescription errors. Methods: A team of nurses, clinicians, pharmacists and administrators developed a new process and checklist for nursing verification of oral chemotherapy prescriptions at Dana-Farber’s pediatric neuro-oncology program. Prescriptions are verified against the treatment plan by two pediatric oncology nurses. The verification checklist includes drug, dose with any modifications, height and weight, laboratory values and patient instructions. When available, the prescription bottle is also verified. Data was collected over a three-month pilot period. Results: From 6/18/15-9/16/15, 56 prescription verifications occurred. Verification rate of on-site retail pharmacy filled prescriptions was 47% (32/68 prescriptions). Median time for verification was 20 minutes (IQR 15, 40) per nurse. Nurses identified problems outside of prescription verification, including missing prior authorizations and unclear treatment plans. Medication bottles were not routinely available for verification. One identified near miss would have resulted in an 80% under-dose of everolimus. Conclusions: Prescription verification by nursing in a pediatric oncology clinic was feasible. While it was successful in identification of one medication error before it reached the patient, only 47% of prescriptions were verified. Since prescription bottles are usually obtained after a visit, verification of the actual bottles will require new workflows, such as additional clinic visits or uploading a picture via the patient portal. Involving the nurse in the review of oral chemotherapy not only identified a prescription error, but also highlighted issues within other aspects of patients’ care, including inconsistent documentation of the treatment plan. The inclusion of nursing in the review and management of oral chemotherapy has the potential to improve safety and outcomes for these patients.


2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Masayoshi Koike ◽  
Mie Yoshimura ◽  
Yasushi Mio ◽  
Shoichi Uezono

Abstract Background Surgical options for patients vary with age and comorbidities, advances in medical technology and patients’ wishes. This complexity can make it difficult for surgeons to determine appropriate treatment plans independently. At our institution, final decisions regarding treatment for patients are made at multidisciplinary meetings, termed High-Risk Conferences, led by the Patient Safety Committee. Methods In this retrospective study, we assessed the reasons for convening High-Risk Conferences, the final decisions made and treatment outcomes using conference records and patient medical records for conferences conducted at our institution from April 2010 to March 2018. Results A total of 410 High-Risk Conferences were conducted for 406 patients during the study period. The department with the most conferences was cardiovascular surgery (24%), and the reasons for convening conferences included the presence of severe comorbidities (51%), highly difficult surgeries (41%) and nonmedical/personal issues (8%). Treatment changes were made for 49 patients (12%), including surgical modifications for 20 patients and surgery cancellation for 29. The most common surgical modification was procedure reduction (16 patients); 4 deaths were reported. Follow-up was available for 21 patients for whom surgery was cancelled, with 11 deaths reported. Conclusions Given that some change to the treatment plan was made for 12% of the patients discussed at the High-Risk Conferences, we conclude that participants of these conferences did not always agree with the original surgical plan and that the multidisciplinary decision-making process of the conferences served to allow for modifications. Many of the modifications involved reductions in procedures to reflect a more conservative approach, which might have decreased perioperative mortality and the incidence of complications as well as unnecessary surgeries. High-risk patients have complex issues, and it is difficult to verify statistically whether outcomes are associated with changes in course of treatment. Nevertheless, these conferences might be useful from a patient safety perspective and minimize the potential for legal disputes.


2020 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Stefan Gerlach ◽  
Christoph Fürweger ◽  
Theresa Hofmann ◽  
Alexander Schlaefer

AbstractAlthough robotic radiosurgery offers a flexible arrangement of treatment beams, generating treatment plans is computationally challenging and a time consuming process for the planner. Furthermore, different clinical goals have to be considered during planning and generally different sets of beams correspond to different clinical goals. Typically, candidate beams sampled from a randomized heuristic form the basis for treatment planning. We propose a new approach to generate candidate beams based on deep learning using radiological features as well as the desired constraints. We demonstrate that candidate beams generated for specific clinical goals can improve treatment plan quality. Furthermore, we compare two approaches to include information about constraints in the prediction. Our results show that CNN generated beams can improve treatment plan quality for different clinical goals, increasing coverage from 91.2 to 96.8% for 3,000 candidate beams on average. When including the clinical goal in the training, coverage is improved by 1.1% points.


2018 ◽  
Vol 14 (12) ◽  
pp. e794-e800
Author(s):  
Dina Thompson ◽  
Kimberly Cox ◽  
James Loudon ◽  
Ivan Yeung ◽  
Woodrow Wells

Purpose: Peer review of a proposed treatment plan is increasingly recognized as an important quality activity in radiation medicine. Although peer review has been emphasized in the curative setting, applying peer review for treatment plans that have palliative intent is receiving increased attention. This study reports peer review outcomes for a regional cancer center that applied routine interprofessional peer review as a standard practice for palliative radiotherapy. Methods and Materials: Peer review outcomes for palliative radiotherapy plans were recorded prospectively for patients who began radiotherapy between October 1, 2015, and September 30, 2017. Recommended and implemented changes were recorded. The content of detailed discussions was recorded to gain insight into the complexities of palliative treatment plans considered during peer review. Results: Peer review outcomes were reviewed for 1,413 treatment plans with palliative intent. The proportions of detailed discussions and changes recommended were found to be 139 (9.8%) and 29 (2.1%), respectively. The content of detailed discussions and changes recommended was categorized. Major changes represented 75.9% of recommended changes, of which 84.2% were implemented clinically. Conclusion: Many complexities exist that are specific to palliative radiotherapy. Interprofessional peer review provides a forum for these complexities to be openly discussed and is an important activity to optimize the quality of care for patients with treatment plans that have palliative intent.


2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 77-88
Author(s):  
Puzhankara Lakshmi ◽  
Menon Sai Megha ◽  
Suresh Reshma

Background : The Indian population shows an extensive range of gingival pigmentation. A detailed description of the gingival pigmentation pattern would provide data for the formulation of an efficient plan for depigmentation. This article gives a novel comprehensive classification to aid in the precise assessment of the pattern and distribution of gingival pigmentation and decision regarding the methods for depigmentation. Methods : Previously existing, established indices and classifications for degree of pigmentation, facial complexion, smile line, lip colour and their modifications were used to differentiate various categories of Esthetics: Esthetic, Unaesthetic-mild, Unaesthetic-severe. Treatment needs were formulated based on the category of Esthetics. Results : The various categories of esthetics include E (Esthetic), M (Unaesthetic-Mild), N (UnaestheticSevere) and specific treatment modalities have been assigned based on the treatment needs. Discussion : The treatment for gingival pigmentation should be based on overall facial esthetics. The classification given in this article takes into consideration the components of facial esthetics: Facial Pigmentation, Degree and distribution of gingival pigmentation, smile line and lip colour. The treatment plan proposed considers the need for the treatment and the possible treatment for each category of esthetics. Conclusion : The classification proposed in this article attempts a complete coverage of combinations of facial esthetic components and the Treatment Index encompasses all the possible treatment modalities for each combination. Although a learning curve might exist, once mastered, the classification and treatment index would serve as a baseline for determining treatment needs in patients with gingival pigmentation.


2021 ◽  
pp. OP.21.00312
Author(s):  
Zachary A. K. Frosch ◽  
Esin C. Namoglu ◽  
Nandita Mitra ◽  
Daniel J. Landsburg ◽  
Sunita D. Nasta ◽  
...  

PURPOSE Patients weigh competing priorities when deciding whether to travel to a cellular therapy center for treatment. We conducted a choice-based conjoint analysis to determine the relative value they place on clinical factors, oncologist continuity, and travel time under different post-treatment follow-up arrangements. We also evaluated for differences in preferences by sociodemographic factors. METHODS We administered a survey in which patients with diffuse large B-cell lymphoma selected treatment plans between pairs of hypothetical options that varied in travel time, follow-up arrangement, oncologist continuity, 2-year overall survival, and intensive care unit admission rate. We determined importance weights (which represent attributes' value to participants) using generalized estimating equations. RESULTS Three hundred and two patients (62%) responded. When all follow-up care was at the center providing treatment, plans requiring longer travel times were less attractive ( v 30 minutes, importance weights [95% CI] of –0.54 [–0.80 to –0.27], –0.57 [–0.84 to –0.29], and –0.17 [–0.49 to 0.14] for 60, 90, and 120 minutes). However, the negative impact of travel on treatment plan choice was mitigated by offering shared follow-up (importance weights [95% CI] of 0.63 [0.33 to 0.93], 0.32 [0.08 to 0.57], and 0.26 [0.04 to 0.47] at 60, 90, and 120 minutes). Black participants were less likely to choose plans requiring longer travel, regardless of follow-up arrangement, as indicated by lower value importance weights for longer travel times. CONCLUSION Reducing travel burden through shared follow-up may increase patients' willingness to travel to receive cellular therapies, but additional measures are required to facilitate equitable access.


2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Saeideh Mohseni Nezhad

The objective of this study is to present a Quantum Model for designing and predicting suitable treatment plans for different psychological disorders. The theory has been extracted from Quantum Field Theories and is modeled on a Conceptual Isolated Human (CIH), which is a totally abstract idea. The Quantum limit of the model explains the way disorders are formed, and its classical limit forecasts the observable CIH behavior. Then, a pattern has been presented for treatment plans based on the CIH Quantum Model, which is named ‘Systematic Balancing’. Finally, Systematic Balancing is presented in this article in order to explain and predict the treatment plan for the category of 'Disruptive, Impulse-Control, and Conduct Disorders in DSM-5'.


2018 ◽  
Vol 331 ◽  
pp. 131-140
Author(s):  
Bálint Molnár

This paper presents a proposal for reconciliation between the warehouse of legal documents created during legislation and Knowledge Warehouse that is dedicated to assisting both citizens and public officers in the procedural legal rules of Public Administration in Hungary. The Knowledge Warehouse contains several thousand detailed rules that describe how to manage and handle life events of citizens. This description can be considered as generic legal cases within legal procedures of authorities. The citizens trigger specific instances of the generic ones. The evolving Knowledge Warehouse main purpose is to enable citizens to get their specific legal cases started either through Web on the Government Portal or with the help of public officers. The Knowledge Warehouse will be extended by ontologies and semantic search capabilities. An Integrated System for Supporting of Codification will be created in an on-going project that will serve as sound basis for the National Warehouse of Legal Rules. The National Warehouse pursues the prescription of MetaLex legal standards in the case of representation of electronic legal documents. The two Warehouse are strongly coupled to each other. However, the syntactic and semantic structure of both differs profoundly. The representation of e-documents within the National Warehouse is in line with ELI, the European Legislation Identifier, even the ontologies and attached semantic description concentrates on the legal documents structural elements and their interpretation. The Knowledge Warehouse focuses on ontologies of life events and procedures of authorities to leverage semantic searching. The proposed solution tries to reconcile and integrate the two differing approaches.


2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (8) ◽  
pp. e255985718
Author(s):  
Daniela Atili Brandini ◽  
Denise Pedrini ◽  
Caio Vinicius Lourenço Debortoli ◽  
Luiza Monzoli Côvre ◽  
Marina Fuzette Amaral

The prognosis of dental trauma depends on professionals with solid and updated knowledge. The objective was to evaluate the ability of undergraduate dentistry students to develop treatment plans for dental trauma. This cross-sectional, observational, quantitative  study had a sample of 242 participants. A clinical case involving avulsion of tooth 11 and complex coronary root fracture of tooth 21 was selected. All data relating to the patient's exams were added to a clinical record, which was delivered to students in the final year of the undergraduate dentistry course for three years consecutive. The students were instructed to develop a treatment plan for this case. The factors most considered in avulsion treatment plans were: how, when and where the trauma occurred, the patient's age and systemic condition. Of the students, 39.7% developed an adequate treatment plan, the main mistake being the lack of occlusal adjustment. In addition, 9,9% of students had an adequate treatment plan for coronary artery fracture. The recovery of periodontal biological space and the indication of intraradicular retainers were the main difficulties. It is concluded that undergraduate dentistry students had great difficulty in formulating treatment plans suitable for more severe cases of dentoalveolar trauma involving several specialties.


Author(s):  
Krystal Vaughn ◽  
Erin Dugan

Many parents and teachers are often confounded when it comes to figuring out a child's presenting issues. Mental health consultants are able to note the frequency, proximity, duration and intensity of and in which the behavior(s) occur (American Psychological Association, 2013; Henderson & Martin, 2014). These professionals are equipped with the tools, education, and experience and are able to gather information, observe, and assess the challenging behaviors or presenting issues in order to formulate and conceptualize a treatment plan for the child, their parent(s), and/or the school/center based setting. Additionally, mental health consultants may offer valuable feedback; increase of knowledge, skills and awareness; development of treatment plans; and implementation of the necessary interventions. This chapter seeks to provide professionals with the definitions, differences, structure, and implementation of a mental health consultation model.


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