Capacity Carlat Reports | Carlat Publishing

Clinical Update

Responding to Sexual Activity on the Inpatient Psychiatric Unit

From The Carlat Hospital Psychiatry Report, Catatonia

We know sexual attraction occurs among individuals staying together in a psychiatric inpatient unit. The prevalence of sexual activity on acute units is as high as 5%—and up to 70% among chronically ill patients in long-term residence in state hospitals (Ford E et al, Psychiatr Serv 2003;54(3):346–350; Wright ER et al, Journal of Ethics in Mental He

Expert Q&A

A Primer for Psychiatrists on Court Hearings

From The Carlat Hospital Psychiatry Report, Testifying

CHPR: Please tell us about yourself; you have a background in both law and psychiatry, right? Dr. VanDercar: Correct. I practiced law in Florida for a couple of years, working as in-house counsel and risk manager for a medical practice. I then remained in Florida for medical school before moving to Cleveland for psychiatry residency and a forensic psyc

Expert Q&A

Decisional Capacity

From The Carlat Hospital Psychiatry Report, Capacity Assessments

CHPR: Can you start by telling us what criteria you use to assess capacity? Dr. Cheung: We generally look for evidence of capacity in four domains. These have become the standard criteria for assessing capacity, based on Dr. Paul Appelbaum’s work from many years ago (Appelbaum PS and Grisso T, N Engl J Med 1988;319(25):1635–1638). The domains are:

Expert Q&A

Capacity Assessment in Pregnant Patients

From The Carlat Hospital Psychiatry Report, Capacity Assessments

Topics: Aid to capacity evaluation (ACE) | Capacity | Pregnancy | Surrogate decision-maker

CHPR: In your current roles, you grapple with complex clinical situations, and one that is particularly difficult involves the treatment of pregnant mentally ill women who lack capacity to make decisions regarding obstetric care. Can you tell us how you approach these patients? Dr. Syed: We start with understanding that a patient doesn’t necessarily