elder law

Physical Restraint of Confused Seniors in Ontario Hospitals

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Section 7 of the Health Care Consent Act (1996)[i] provides direction for restraint and confinement in a care facility. It states: “This Act does not affect the common law duty of a caregiver to restrain or confine a person when immediate action is necessary to prevent serious bodily harm to the person or to others.” Nonetheless, the Patient Restraints Minimization Act (2001)[ii] was passed in Ontario to discourage the use….

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Disability, Elder Care, Elder Law, Geriatric Care Management, Healthcare

Can Alzheimer’s Patients Consent to Care Without Speaking?

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The British Columbia Court of Appeal released its decision in Bentley v. Maplewood Seniors Care Society earlier this year. The closely watched case involved a late-stage Alzheimer’s patient who was supposedly consenting to being fed by opening her mouth when a spoon or glass was placed on her lower lip. The case raises difficult questions about the extent to which people with advanced Alzheimer’s can consent to decisions about food at the end….

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Capacity Law, Elder Care, Elder Law, Estate Litigation, Geriatric Care Management, In the News

Barriers to Communication Masked as Symptoms of Incapacity – A Reminder

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Last week, in my blog entitled “Red Flags of Incapacity”, I mentioned that certain barriers and physical changes associated with aging can be mistaken for signs of incapacity. As professionals, we need to be able to separate these from actual signs of incapacity, and work to reduce or eliminate their effect as much as possible. These barriers include vision impairment, hearing impairment, and the beginning stages of dementia.  As people….

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Capacity Law, Elder Law, Estate Planning
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