CFP: Coping with Capacity: Determining the limits of patient decision making.

COPING WITH CAPACITY: DETERMINING THE LIMITS OF PATIENT DECISION MAKING
Annual UAMS Intensive Healthcare Ethics Workshop

KEYNOTE SPEAKERS
Art Derse, MD, JD, FACEP
Julia and David Uihlein Professor of Medical Humanities
Director, Center for Bioethics and Medical Humanities
Medical College of Wisconsin

Jeffrey Spike, PhD
Samuel E. Karff Chair
Director, Campus-Wide Ethics Program
John P. McGovern, MD Center for Humanities and Ethics

WORKSHOP DIRECTOR
D. Micah Hester, PhD
Chief, Division of Medical Humanities, Clinical Ethicist
University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences and Arkansas Children’s Hospital

WORKSHOP LEADERS
Leah R. Eisenberg, JD, MA
Assistant Professor of Medical Humanities, Clinical Ethicist
University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences and Arkansas Children’s Hospital

Thomas V. Cunningham, PhD, MA, MS
Assistant Professor of Medical Humanities and Internal Medicine, Clinical Ethicist
University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences and Arkansas Children’s Hospital

Respect for autonomy is a central principle in medical ethics. Adults are presumed to have the ability to make intelligent decisions for themselves, and we are obligated to respect those decisions. However, the presumption of autonomy may not hold in every case—some individuals lack decisional capacity.

Importantly, then, we must ask: What is decisional capacity, and what does it mean to lack capacity? How can we determine when someone has “lost capacity,” whether or not they can get it back? Who is best positioned to evaluate capacity? If a person is deemed to lack capacity, how should s/he be treated? What ethical and legal implications follow when someone lacks capacity?

The UAMS Intensive Healthcare Ethics Workshop for 2016 will bring together scholars, clinicians, and ethics committee members to discuss ethical issues related to decision making capacity. The workshop is designed for a limited number of participants in order to be highly interactive, and will include keynote speakers, small group sessions, simulation-based learning, and paper and poster presentations.

Professionals and students from all disciplines are invited to submit paper or poster proposals related to the theme of decision-making capacity in the healthcare setting. Topics of interest include but are not limited to:
• The role of different healthcare providers and professionals in capacity determination
• Best practices in capacity determination
• Considering capacity in minors
• The biological basis of capacity
• Legal issues regarding decisional capacity
• The mature minor doctrine
• Clinical ethics consultations when capacity is in question
• Ethical norms related to decision making capacity
• Decisional capacity as a subject of philosophical analysis

In recognition of the participatory nature of this workshop, proposals must
− Be 300 words or fewer (not including title)
− Describe the presenter’s plan for engaging and interacting with the audience
− Indicate whether it is for a paper or poster
− Demonstrate innovation in style and content, where applicable

To submit, enter your information at: http://tinyurl.com/2016-UAMS- IWHE-submission. 

Deadline: midnight, January 29, 2015