Julie Helen: This is a service that may be important for all of us... I urge you to take a look

THE Decision Support Service has been open for over one month. They have had more than 1,330 calls and and more than 700 emails in the first 30 days.

The service will put into operation the Assisted Decision Making Capacity Act, 2015, an important piece of legislation which means that people who may have their capacity to make decisions brought into question, can have the support they need to make their own decisions, and they can have different levels of support for different types of decisions.

Up until we had this new legislation, people who were wards of court had no choice and control over their own lives and many people with intellectual disabilities, those experiencing mental health difficulties or those with dementia had nowhere to turn to for support with decisions. Now they do.

For a long time, family members and staff and supporters have been supporting loved ones to make decisions and doing the very best they can, others were just making the decisions on behalf of someone or in their best interests. The new legislation moves away from best interests and presumes that every single person has capacity to make and communicate decisions in some way through their will and preference.

Will and preference is all about what someone wants or prefers and it can be supporters around them who know them well that can help them to put that forward. This will of course still often be family members. There are now agreements to be put in place so that people are protected so their will and preference are front and centre and no abuse occurs. I am trying to explain the principles of assisted decision making as best I can. You may be reading this thinking it won’t ever impact you but it is for us all and could impact any of us if our capacity is ever brought into question even in a temporary way.

Having mechanisms for assisted decision making is fundamentally an issue about rights and for people with intellectual disabilities in particular, it is something that needs to be considered through their whole lives so supports to realise rights to make decisions are important and under the UN Convention on the Rights of People with Disabilities.

 However, Ireland doesn’t even go far enough in presuming capacity because we do have representative decision making in the new laws which will mean other people will still ultimately be able to make a decision for somebody if they need the highest level of support to make their own choices.

As I write this, I understand that there are family members of someone who will need support with their decisions, hearing about the decision support service for the first time or feeling fear about what it might mean for their family when they see the advertising campaigns on the TV or hear them on the radio. Here are some things I know. Having input into decisions is much better than not having input. Years ago people who had difficulty with capacity were locked away in asylums and had no human rights met. People need to make their own decisions. Having systems and codes of practice and a professional body overseeing it means that both individuals and family members will be supported and protected. Having somewhere to ask questions and query things can only be a good thing. 

The Decision Support Service is only starting and it will be a service that may be important for us all so I urge everyone to look at www.decisionsupportservice.ie and find out more information so that if you ever need it, you have the information. Information is power.