Determining Decisional Capacity for Sexual Consent in Patients with Dementia

For older adults who have dementia and are living in care facilities, the topic of physical intimacy posits a clinical and ethical dilemma. Long-term care workers must respect their patients’ autonomy, but also protect them from harm. A principal component of this topic is the assessment of the capacity to consent. In this case, a clinical interview tool was applied in a novel way to assess the decisional capacity to consent to physical intimacy between 2 patients with dementia living in a long-term care facility (LTC).