The Chief Scientist reports. ... Mental health hearings for elderly people with dementia.

The aim of the study reported here was to examine the feasibility of mental health hearings, modelled along the lines of the Children's Hearings, for handling legal and ethical problems that arise in managing the personal and financial affairs of elderly people with dementia. The study involved interviews with professionals, as well as a postal survey. The findings indicated that technically irregular solutions to problems were commonplace. Over half of the professionals surveyed thought that mental health hearings would help solve disputes.