Issues of Competence and the Dependent Adults Act

Abstract

This is a nontechnical report of a research study - Issues of Competence and the Dependent Adults Act - which was commissioned by the Public Guardian’s Office of the Department of Social Services and Community Health (Alberta). The study had three purposes:

• 1. To investigate operational definitions of competence that have meaning both to rehabilitation services and to the judicial system

• 2. To provide informal comparative information for parents and other potential guardians about the proposed dependent adult’s relative competence

• 3. To investigate methods of obtaining indicators of competence

The study was considered necessary because the Dependent Adults Act (Alberta 1976) [1] is a dramatic departure from existing guardianship legislation in which the need for guardianship was synonymous with diagnostic classifications such as mentally retarded, senile, idiot, etc. These classifications were replaced with functional statements, e.g., “unable to care for himself,” “unable to make reasonable judgements in respect to all or any matters relating to his person,” and “in need of a guardian.” These statements, while reflecting a positive trend away from traditional labels, are subjective, open to interpretation, and have potential application to a much broader spectrum of persons than was originally intended. Thus, the Dependent Adults Act, conceived as human rights legislation and designed to ensure the dependent adult’s rights to treatment, service, and legal support has the potential to become a vehicle for denying persons who are undesirable rather than incompetent the right to self-determination.

Funding provided to the Vocational and Rehabilitation Research Institute through a research contract under the auspices of the Public Guardian’s Office (Alberta) and the Department of Social Services and Community Health (Alberta)