Personal Directives Regulations - Personal Directives Act (Nova Scotia)

“physician” means an individual registered as a medical practitioner under the Medical Act.

“health care” means any examination, procedure, service or treatment that is done for a therapeutic, preventative, palliative, diagnostic or other health-related purpose, and includes a course of health care or a care plan;

“guardian” means a person appointed to be a guardian by a court in a province of Canada;

“person represented” means a person on whose behalf decisions are made by a statutory decision maker, but for the purposes of subsection 10(2) of the Act means an individual.

(3) In Section 8 of the Act, “remuneration” does not include reimbursement for reasonable out-of-pocket expenses incurred by a delegate in exercising their authority under a personal directive.

3 In addition to the persons listed in subsection 30(1) of the Act, a notice of an application to a court under Section 29 of the Act must be served on all of the following persons:

(c) if the maker or person represented resides in a continuing-care home or a hospital, the manager or person in charge of the continuing-care home or the hospital.

(a) an assessment or reassessment of capacity of a maker or person represented for the purposes of Section 10 of the Act;

(b) an assessment of capacity of a maker for the purposes of Section 11 of the Act after the maker has been prevented from leaving the Province;

(c) an assessment of capacity of a delegate to make personal-care decisions on behalf of a maker for the purposes of clause 13(a) of the Act.

5 (1) A physician conducting an assessment or reassessment of capacity listed in Section 4 must complete Form 1: Assessment of Capacity to Make Decisions about a Personal Care Matter.

(2) A person conducting an assessment of capacity other than those listed in Section 4 is not required to complete Form 1: Assessment of Capacity to Make Decisions about a Personal Care Matter.

6 A delegate or a statutory decision-maker who is deciding under clause 15(2)(c) of the Act what is in the best interests of a maker or person represented must consider all of the following:

(a) whether the maker’s or person represented’s condition or well-being is likely to be improved by the proposed care or will not deteriorate because of it;

(b) whether the maker’s or person represented’s condition or well-being is likely to improve without the proposed care or is not likely to deteriorate without it;

(c) whether the benefit the maker or person represented is expected to obtain from the proposed care is greater than the risk of harm or other negative consequences;

(d) whether the benefit of a less restrictive or less intrusive form of available care is greater than the risk of harm or other negative consequences.

(assessing capacity for Sections 10, 11 and 13 of the Personal Directives Act)

I, _______________________________________ (full name and professional designation), a physician, assessed ____________________________________________ (full name of person being assessed) of _____________________________________________ (address of person) on ______/______/______ (dd/mm/yyyy) at ____________ a.m./p.m. at ________________________ (location of assessment).

If the assessment is of a person delegated under a personal directive to make personal-care decisions for another, then skip items 1 and 2.

❑ I am aware that _____________________________ (full name of person being assessed) has made a personal directive.

❑ I do not know if ____________________________ (full name of person being assessed) has made a personal directive.

Subsection 10(1) of the Personal Directives Act states that a personal directive may name a person – by name, title, or position – with whom the person making an assessment of capacity of the maker is to consult in making the assessment.

❑ I consulted with ________________________________ (full name of person named in personal directive) in making this assessment of capacity.

❑ I have made reasonable efforts to consult with ______________________ (full name of person named in personal directive) in making this assessment of capacity.

“Capacity” is defined in the Personal Directives Act to mean the ability to understand information that is relevant to the making of a personal-care decision and the ability to appreciate the reasonably foreseeable consequences of a decision or lack of a decision.

Before conducting the assessment of capacity, I explained to ___________________________ (full name of person being assessed) the purpose of the assessment, the significance and effect of a finding of capacity or incapacity, and their right to refuse to be assessed.

It is my opinion that _____________________________ (full name of person being assessed) has the capacity to make a personal-care decision regarding the following:

Personal Care Decision	Capacity
• Health care _________________________________________ _________________________________________	Yes ❑	No ❑
(“health care” is defined for the Personal Directives Act to mean any examination, procedure, service or treatment for an individual that is done for a therapeutic, preventative, palliative, diagnostic or other health-related purpose, and includes a course of health care or a care plan)
• Placement in a continuing-care home	Yes ❑	No ❑
• Provision of home-care services	Yes ❑	No ❑
• Leaving the Province	Yes ❑	No ❑
• Other personal care _______________________________________	Yes ❑	No ❑
(“personal care” is defined in the Personal Directives Act to include, but is not limited to, health care, nutrition, hydration, shelter, residence, clothing, hygiene, safety, comfort, recreation, social activities, support services and any other personal matter that is prescribed by the regulations)

A) Observations from my assessment of the person being assessed:
____________________________________________________________

B) Information from other sources (please specify sources of information):
____________________________________________________________

Is there any additional supporting information or reports attached? Yes ❑ No ❑

1) This form must be completed by a physician. (s. 5 of Personal Directives Regulations)

A) if any of the following request an assessment of the capacity of a person who has made a personal directive or a person on whose behalf personal care decisions will be made:

• the person who made the personal directive or on whose behalf personal care decisions will be made

• a person in charge of the home-care services provider or continuing-care home where the person who made the personal directive or on whose behalf the personal care decisions will be made resides.

B) for the assessment of capacity of a person who has made a personal directive after they have been prevented from leaving the Province (s. 11 of Personal Directives Act)

C) for the assessment of capacity of a person delegated under a personal directive to make personal-care decisions (s. 13 of Personal Directives Act)

3) An assessment made under s. 11 of the Act after a person has been prevented from leaving the Province must be completed as soon as practicable. (s. 11(2) of Personal Directives Act)