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The American Psychological Association - American Bar Association Capacity Assessment in Older Adults Project
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Background
The APA Office on Aging has had an ongoing relationship with the ABA Commission on Law and Aging (COLA) since 2001 when geropsychologist David Powers, PhD was appointed APA Liaison to the Commission. Ongoing discussions between Dr. Powers, Nancy Coleman, then Director of COLA, and Deborah DiGilio, Director of the APA Office regarding issues of mutual concern to psychology and law resulted in the idea to work together in the area of capacity assessment in older adults. At a series of meetings convened by the APA Ad Hoc Committee on Legal Issues (COLI) Task Force on Facilitating APA/ABA Relations, these parties advocated for greater attention to issues related to older adults and generated a list of important capacity issues and potential collaborative projects. The Task Force expressed support for the proposed efforts and encouraged initiation of APA/ABA activities related to capacity assessment in older adults.
Project Development
In June 2003, a two-day meeting, funded by the University of Georgia Gerontology Center with additional support provided by the ABA, was held. The meeting, Legal and Psychological Perspectives On Assessment of Capacity in Older Adults: An ABA-APA Dialogue, brought together fifteen representatives from psychology and law to identify areas of need and potential areas of collaboration. Participants included: Betsy Abramson, JD, University of Wisconsin Law School; Donna J. Beavers, APA Office of General Council; Edwin M. Boyer, JD, Boyer & Jackson, P.A., Sarasota, FL; Baird B. Brown, JD, Brown and Castle, P.C., Grand Junction, Colorado; Nancy Coleman, Director, COLA; Deborah DiGilio, APA Office on Aging; Gregory A. Hinrichsen, PhD, Hillside Hospital, Glen Oaks, NY; Hon. John N.Kirkendall, Washtenaw County Probate Court; John Laster, JD, Falls Church, VA; Daniel Marson, JD, PhD, Director,Division of Neuropsychology, University of Alabama at Birmingham; Jennifer Moye, PhD, Brockton VA Medical Center, MA; Leonard W. Poon, PhD, The University of Georgia; David V. Powers, PhD, Loyola College, Maryland; Sarah Richardson, COLA; Charlie Sabatino, JD, Associate Staff Director, COLA; and, Erica Wood, JD, Assistant Director, COLA. At the conclusion of the two-day meeting, specific needs from the legal, psychological and judicial perspectives were identified, and a set of recommendations and action steps were outlined to address these issues.
In December 2003, a second, smaller work meeting was convened, with funding from APA at which the ABA/APA Assessment of Capacity in Older Adults Project Workgroup was established. APA members include Barry Edelstein, PhD, Gregory Hinrichsen, PhD, Daniel Marson, JD, PhD, Jennifer Moye, PhD, Leonard Poon, PhD, David Powers, PhD and Deborah DiGilio, MPH. ABA members are Nancy Coleman, Director, Charles Sabatino, JD, Assistant Director, and Erica Wood, JD, Associate Director of the American Bar Association's Commission on Law and Aging.
Project Activities
At the 2004 APA Annual Meeting, a number of activities were planned to inform psychologists of the Project's work and secure broad input on the issue of capacity assessment for older adults and future activities of this collaborative project. A symposium, Assessment of Capacity in Older Adults: An APA - ABA Collaboration, attended by over 60 participants, summarized the state-of-affairs of capacity in older adults from a legal perspective, reviewed the issues that psychologists confront in making capacity assessments and which instruments are most appropriate in making assessments and summarized the recommendations that emerged from the ABA-APA dialogue. Participants included Leonard Poon, PhD, Gregory Hinrichsen, PhD, Charles Sabatino, JD, Jennifer Moye, PhD, David Powers, PhD, and Robert Kinscherff, JD, PhD as discussant. The APA Committee on Aging also held a well-attended Conversation Hour on this topic during the Convention. At the 2005 APA Convention, an all-day continuing education program for psychologists was held. Convened by Jennifer Moye, PhD. Presenters included Karlene Ball, PhD, Andrew Clifford, PhD, Barry Edelstein, PhD, Daniel Marson, JD, PhD, Charles Sabatino, JD, and Martin Zehr, PhD.
Project Products
The first product of the American Psychological Association and American Bar Association Working Group, Assessment of Older Adults with Diminished Capacity: A Handbook for Lawyers, was printed in April 2005. Contents of the handbook include: The Importance of Attorney Assessment of Client Capacity; Legal Standards of Diminished Capacity: Clinical Models of Capacity (including General Clinical Model of Capacity and Specific Domain Models of Capacity); Lawyer Assessment of Capacity; Techniques Lawyers Can Use to Enhance Client Capacity; Attorney Referrals for Clinical Consultation or Formal Assessment of Capacity; and Understanding and Using the Capacity Assessment Report. Appendices include Case Examples, a brief guide to psychological and neuropsychological instruments, and a dementia overview. Presentations and continuing education offerings based on the handbook have been conducted by Project Working Group members around the country to audiences such as the National Association of Elder Law Attorneys, state guardianship associations, and at the APA Annual Conference participants. It is available at www.apa.org/pi/aging/
The Working Group’s second product is a companion document to the handbook for lawyers. Judicial Determinations of Capacity of Older Adults in Guardianship Proceedings was completed in May 2006. Working Group members, Jennifer Moye, PhD and Dan Marson, JD, PhD from APA and Charles Sabatino, JD and Erica Wood from ABA developed this product.
Dr. Moye is its editor. The National College of Probate Judges is a cosponsor of this document. It was initially distributed at the NCPJ annual meeting in May 2005 and is available at www.apa.org/pi/aging.
For more information about the Project contact: Deborah DiGilio, MPH, Aging Issues Officer, APA Office on Aging via email or phone (202) 336-6135.
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