 |
| Research article summary (published 30 Jan 2003): |
General practitioners' perspectives regarding competence and confidentiality in an adolescent with suspected anorexia nervosa: legal and ethical considerations.
Full Abstract
In Victoria, Australia, the legal position regarding young people's competence to make medical treatment decisions has not been clarified in legislation, and a number of often vague common law decisions must be relied on for guidance. This situation produces a degree of uncertainty about appropriate professional practice, while also potentially impeding young people's rights claims in health care settings. With this in mind, the present research explored general practitioners' competence and confidentiality decisions regarding a 17-year-old female who presented with symptoms of an eating disorder. Questionnaires were sent to a random sample of 500 Victorian general practitioners, of whom 190 responded. After reading a case vignette, general practitioners indicated whether they would find the hypothetical patient competent and if they would maintain her confidentiality. Seventy-three per cent of respondents found the patient competent and most would have maintained confidentiality, at least initially. However, subsequent analysis of the rationales supplied for these decisions revealed a wide diversity in general practitioners' understandings and implementations of extant legal authority. This research highlights the need for general practitioners to be exposed to up-to-date and clinically relevant explanations of contemporary legal positions.
Learn Faster Today Improve your study skills
Author information
Author/s: Bartholomew, Terence P (TP); Paxton, Susan J (SJ);
Affiliation: School of Psychology, Deakin University, 221 Burwood Highway, Burwood, Victoria. terryb@deakin.edu.au
Journal and publication information
Publication Type: Journal Article; Legal Cases
Journal: Journal of law and medicine (J Law Med), published in Australia. (Language: eng)
Reference: 2003-Feb; vol 10 (issue 3) : pp 308-24
Dates: Created 2003/03/24; Completed 2003/05/27; Revised 2004/11/17;
PMID: 12650002, status: MEDLINE (last retrieval date: 11/6/2008)
Sourced from the National Library of Medicine. Abstract text and other information may be subject to copyright.
External Links for this article (including full text providers, if available):
Click Electronic Full-text Provider Links to see options for finding the electronic full text links to this article. Note there may be a subscription or fee required for access to the full text. See our FAQ for information on finding FREE full text articles.
This article may also be located in paper journal collections available in many libraries. Use the Journal and Publication Information above to find the full article.
MeSH headings (categories)
This article was linked to the MESH Headings shown below.
|
|
Related articles
This article has not been indexed for related articles as yet, however you can still use the live related article search links below.
See a large map of 100+ related articles.