Geriatric Psychiatry Research

Document Type

Book Chapter

Publication Date

2018

Journal

Geriatric Forensic Psychiatry: Principles and Practice

Inclusive Pages

343-349

DOI

10.1093/med/9780199374656.003.0040

Abstract

Forensic research with older participants carries more ethical challenges than either geriatric or forensic research alone. Concerns with cognitive impairment, informed consent, and voluntariness combine to complicate investigations of criminal and civil competencies, aggression, and the needs of an aging correctional population. Despite the paucity of regulatory guidance, researchers have developed a number of tools for simplifying the complex requirements of forensic geriatric research. Formal assessments for capacity to consent, ongoing consent discussions and enhancements, use of surrogate decision-makers, attention to vulnerability and desperation, and research useful to the subjects themselves are all part of a best practice model that underscores the dignity and personhood of this vulnerable research population. This chapter addresses each of these elements of best practice in geriatric forensic research, as well as research ethics required in conducting geriatric psychiatry forensic research.

Peer Reviewed

1

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