Abstract

One of the most important and difficult tasks in medicine is to determine when patients have the capacity to make decisions for themselves. This determination may determine a patient’s life or death. This article presents criteria and approaches now used to make this assessment and discusses how these approaches are presently applied in five common disorders that can serve as paradigms for approaches in other disorders. I propose that since there are new diagnoses and treatments, reconsidering our current practices is warranted. The possibilities that clinicians can nudge patients to make better choices for themselves and, above all, that clinicians can maintain and maximize positive patient/careprovider relationships during and after these assessments, are emphasized.