CONVENING EXPERT PANELS TO IDENTIFY MENTAL-CAPACITY ASSESSMENT ITEMS

The objective of this study was to attempt to develop an index of asse ssment items important to most, if not all, mental capacity determinat ions. A group process, judgmental method was used. Three separate pane ls of multidisciplinary experts were assembled to define relevant asse ssment items and to assign importance weights to the items. All three panels generated a list of assessment items, but panelists refused to assign importance weights. Four items were identified by all three pan els, six were identified by two panels, and three were identified by o ne panel only. A composite list of mental capacity assessment items wa s generated, but the study failed to generate a standardized assessmen t instrument.