Parker, J., Penhale, B. and Stanley, D. (2010) Problem or safeguard? research ethics review in social care research and the Mental Capacity Act 2005. Social Care and Neurodisability, 1 (2). pp. 22-32. ISSN 2042-0919
Abstract
The Mental Capacity Act 2005 (HM Government, 2005) introduced safeguards to protect people who lack capacity from intrusive research. While these safeguards stemmed from predominantly medical ethical review concerns and developments aimed to protect people from physical and psychological damage and harm, the Act relates to all forms of research. The implications of the requirements of the Act for the conduct of social care research and the identification of helpful approaches or development of new knowledge concerning people who may lack capacity are, as yet, unknown. There are some concerns that the Act does not fully account for social research, does not recognise its importance to and differences from health-related research, and may even hamper such research from taking place. This paper describes the findings and implications from a research project funded by the Social Care Institute for Excellence (SCIE) and the Department of Health that considered the impact of the Mental Capacity Act 2005 on the ethical scrutiny and development of social care research. The particular focus of the study was processes relating to university research ethics committees (URECs). The study was undertaken in two stages, beginning with an online survey of UREC policies and procedures and was followed by interviews with social care researchers working in areas in which people may lack capacity according to the terms of the Act. Recommendations for research ethics review are made that will be of importance to practitioners, policy-makers and researchers.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
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Authors/Creators: |
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Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | © 2010, Emerald Group Publishing Limited. This is an author-produced version of a paper subsequently published in Social Care and Neurodisability. This version is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial Licence (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. You may not use the material for commercial purposes. |
Keywords: | Mental Capacity Act 2005; Research; Ethics; Safeguards; Social care |
Dates: |
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Institution: | The University of Sheffield |
Academic Units: | The University of Sheffield > Faculty of Medicine, Dentistry and Health (Sheffield) > School of Health and Related Research (Sheffield) |
Depositing User: | Symplectic Sheffield |
Date Deposited: | 18 Nov 2019 15:30 |
Last Modified: | 19 Nov 2019 07:31 |
Status: | Published |
Publisher: | Emerald |
Refereed: | Yes |
Identification Number: | 10.5042/scn.2010.0430 |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:152534 |