title: Capacity issues related to the health care proxy.
abstract: The concept of capacity, its ethical mandates, and a rationale for the assessment of capacity to execute a health care proxy was discussed. Special New York State regulations, relevant to the execution of a health care proxy by persons who have mental retardation, were reviewed, discussed, and compared with regulations in some other jurisdictions. Technical information about a health care proxy and the appropriate form for a simple health care proxy were described. A standard for psychologists and physicians to use in assessing the capacity of a person with cognitive impairments to execute a health care proxy is presented.
authors.affiliation: Psychology Department Residential Division, Center for Disability Services, 3 Cedar St. Extension, Cohoes, NY 12047, USA. lyden@cftd.org
authors.forename: Martin
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Lyden
mesh_terms: D006296:Health Services / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence*; D006801:Humans; D008607:Intellectual Disability / Q000523:psychology*; D007872:Legal Guardians / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence*; D016743:Mental Competency / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence*; D009518:New York; D019727:Proxy / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence*; D014481:United States