Capacity assessment
A capacity assessment is done to see if an adult can make personal or financial decisions and can understand the consequences.
Overview
A capacity assessment is done only if there are legitimate reasons to believe the adult doesn’t have the ability to make their own decisions.
Before a capacity assessment, a doctor must give the adult a check-up to make sure their decision-making ability isn’t being affected by a medical condition that is:
- temporary, or
- reversible
A healthcare professional, called a capacity assessor, checks to see if the adult understands:
- the facts they should consider when making a decision
- what could happen if they choose one option over another
Capacity is assessed to help determine whether or not:
- a personal directive should be enacted to give the agent authority to make a personal decision, or
- one of these decision-makers should be appointed for an adult:
- co-decision-maker
- guardian
- trustee
Just because someone disagrees with an adult’s decisions doesn’t mean they’ve lost the ability to make their own decisions. If they fully understand the impact of a decision, they’re probably capable of making it.
Who can do a capacity assessment
Capacity assessors are professionals who are qualified to evaluate an adult’s ability to make decisions. They include all:
- physicians
- psychologists
If they’re trained and meet certain requirements, other healthcare professionals can be designated as capacity assessors. They may be registered:
- nurses
- psychiatric nurses
- social workers
- occupational therapists
Co-decision-making capacity assessment
The capacity assessor:
- meets with the adult
- asks them questions to determine the degree to which they can make personal decisions
- fills outs and signs a form that's only valid for 6 months to be used in an application for co-decision-making
Adult guardianship and trusteeship capacity assessment
The capacity assessor:
- meets with the adult
- asks them questions to determine the degree to which they can make personal decisions
- fills out and signs a form that’s only valid for 6 months to be used in an application for guardianship or trusteeship
Personal directive capacity assessment
The capacity assessment process is different for a personal directive than it is for co-decision-making, guardianship and trusteeship.
When a person makes a personal directive, they can designate someone on the personal directive to ‘determine capacity.’
Two people decide
Two people determine capacity before a personal directive takes effect:
- each does a capacity assessment
- they decide - together - whether the adult has lost the ability to make personal decisions
If someone is designated to determine capacity
The maker of the personal directive may have named someone as ‘designated to determine capacity.’ This person might be:
- a family member
- a friend
- their agent
The other person doing an assessment must be a:
- physician
- psychologist
If someone isn’t designated to determine capacity
The maker of the personal directive might not have designated anyone to determine capacity. Then, 2 service providers will determine capacity.
One of them must be a:
- physician
- psychologist
The second service provider can be a:
- physician
- psychologist
- nurse
- manager of a care facility
- social worker
If the adult gets better
Sometimes people:
- recover from injuries or illness
- can make their own decisions again
If that happens, the adult should have another capacity assessment.
Is there a cost
The cost of a capacity assessment can vary.
The maximum fee for a capacity assessment is:
- $500 for guardianship, trusteeship or co-decision-making
- $700 for combined guardianship and trusteeship
If the cost of a capacity assessment is a financial hardship for you, contact the Office of the Public Guardian and Trustee (OPGT).
Find a capacity assessor
Find a qualified professional to do a capacity assessment for:
- adult guardianship
- co-decision-making
- trusteeship
These capacity assessments can be done by any:
- physician
- psychologist
- designated capacity assessor
We keep 2 lists of capacity assessors:
1. Professionals who do capacity assessments for the public as part of their private practice.
2. Those who do assessments as part of their job and work in places like hospitals or long-term care centres.
Publications
Capacity Assessment – Adult Guardianship and Trusteeship Act
Guide to Capacity Assessment under the Personal Directives Act