Informed consent

Informed consent is the act of obtaining permission from a person, whereby the permission is given with full knowledge of the possible consequences, outcomes and alternate options related to that decision.

In the community services environment informed consent is strongly associated with decisions which are made regarding the provision of care, where the person receiving care knows the risks and benefits associated with that care.

When obtaining informed consent it is important for the worker to consider whether or not the person has: (a) received the information, (b) understood the information, and (c) is capable of making decisions based on that information. If the worker cannot answer yes to these then the provision of that care may breach their workplace legal and ethical requirements.

The following considerations should be made regarding informed consent.