Lawn S, McMillan J, Comley Z, Smith A, Brayley J
Department of Psychiatry, Flinders Human Behaviour and Health Research Unit, Adelaide, SA, Australia; CARE Inc (Citizens Advocacy Research and Education for Mental Health), Adelaide, SA, Australia.
J Psychiatr Ment Health Nurs. 2014 May;21(4):289-95. doi: 10.1111/jpm.12109. Epub 2013 Sep 17.
It helps people with mental illnesses to recover if they are not deprived of their rights of citizenship. The right to vote is an important marker of citizenship. Ensuring citizenship through the right to vote is especially important when someone is committed under mental health legislation, yet it is unclear how and whether this occurs in practice. This paper discusses what occurs for this population in Australia and overseas and reviews the role of capacity and supported decision making in the context of the right to vote. Solutions are offered for how mental health practice can protect the interest that Australians with mental illnesses have in voting. A central feature of recovery-based practice for people with mental illness is that they are able to exercise rights and experience membership of a community. This notion of citizenship is especially important when someone has had rights removed after being committed under mental health legislation. The right to vote is a central marker of citizenship. Supporting a person's right to vote is important for recovery-based practice. In this paper, we review the issue of voting for people who have been committed under mental health legislation, why it matters for recovery, and what occurs from the Australian and international perspective. We briefly review the concepts of capacity and supported decision making in the context of the right to vote. We also consider the usefulness of the American 'Doe Standard', which has been used with the Competency Assessment Tool (CAT-V), to determine capacity to vote. Some solutions are offered that would protect the interest that Australians with mental illnesses have in voting.
如果精神疾病患者不被剥夺公民权，这将有助于他们康复。投票权是公民身份的一个重要标志。当某人依据心理健康立法被收治时，通过投票权确保其公民身份尤为重要，但目前尚不清楚这在实践中是如何以及是否能够实现的。本文讨论了澳大利亚和海外该群体的情况，并审视了投票权背景下行为能力和辅助决策的作用。针对心理健康实践如何能够保护患有精神疾病的澳大利亚人在投票方面的权益，本文提出了一些解决方案。基于康复的精神疾病患者实践的一个核心特征是，他们能够行使权利并体验社区成员身份。当某人依据心理健康立法被收治后其权利被剥夺时，这种公民身份的概念尤为重要。投票权是公民身份的核心标志。支持一个人的投票权对于基于康复的实践很重要。在本文中，我们审视了依据心理健康立法被收治的人群的投票问题、其对康复为何重要以及从澳大利亚和国际视角来看情况如何。我们简要审视了投票权背景下行为能力和辅助决策的概念。我们还考虑了美国“多伊标准”（已与能力评估工具（CAT-V）一起使用）在确定投票能力方面的有用性。本文提出了一些能够保护患有精神疾病的澳大利亚人在投票方面权益的解决方案。
