Informed consent

Informed consent is…

an essential part of ethical, legal, and professional oral health practice. It ensures that every patient has the right to make an informed choice about their care after receiving information in a form, language, and manner they can understand.

Importance- respects patient…

autonomy, giving individuals control over what happens to their own bodies.

Importance- is a…

legal requirement under the Code of Health and Disability Services Consumers’ Rights (1996), particularly right 5 (effective communication), right 6 (to be fully informed), and right 7 (to make an informed choice and give informed consent).

Importance- promotes…

trust and transparency in the patient-practitioner relationship.

Importance- ensures…

that treatment is ethical and lawful, protecting both the patient and practitioner.

Four criteria for informed consent

Disclosure, comprehension, competence, and voluntariness

Disclosure

• The practitioner must provide the patient with all of the information that a reasonable consumer in that patient’s circumstances would expect to receive.

• This includes the purpose of treatment, benefits and risks/side effects, costs, alternatives, and what might happen if treatment is not carried out.

Comprehension

• the patient must understand the information given to them

• Communication must be in a form, language, and manner appropriate to the patient e.g. using interpreters.

Competence

• the patient must have the ability to understand, weigh, and communicate decisions about their care.

• If competence is diminished, the patient should still be supported to make decisions to the extent appropriate to their level of understanding.

Voluntariness

The decision must be made freely, without coercion or influence from family, caregivers, or health professionals.