Short title

        1. These regulations may be cited as the Adult Protection Regulations, 2022 .

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Definitions

        2. In these regulations,

             (a)  "Act" means the Adult Protection Act, 2021 ;

             (b)  "adult" means an adult who is or may be in need of protective intervention;

             (c)  "capacity assessment" means an assessment of capacity for decision-making referred to in subsection 6(5) of the Act;

             (d)  "interdisciplinary team" means a team of health care professionals appointed in accordance with section 4;

             (e)  "investigator" means a person acting as an investigator under Part II of the Act; and

             (f)  "service plan" means the service plan referred to in section 30 of the Act.

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Health care professionals

        3. For the purposes of paragraph 2(i) of the Act, persons licensed or registered under an Act of the province to provide health care are designated as health care professionals.

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Assessment of capacity for decision-making

        4. (1) Where a capacity assessment is required under paragraph 16(3)(b) or 20(2)(b) of the Act, the capacity assessment shall determine whether an adult lacks capacity to make decisions relating to one or more of the areas referred to in paragraph 5(a) of the Act.

             (2)  In order to determine the scope of a capacity assessment, an investigator shall review any previous assessments relating to the adult and all supporting documentation relating to the previous assessments.

             (3)  Where a previous capacity assessment of the adult has been completed, an investigator shall require a new capacity assessment to be completed except where the investigator is satisfied that a new capacity assessment would not result in a different opinion with respect to the adult's capacity for decision-making.

             (4)  A capacity assessment shall be conducted by an interdisciplinary team appointed by an investigator.

             (5)  The interdisciplinary team may include members of some or all of the following disciplines:

             (a)  medicine;

             (b)  nursing;

             (c)  occupational therapy;

             (d)  physiotherapy;

             (e)  psychology;

             (f)  social work; and

             (g)  speech language pathology.

             (6)  In addition to members of the disciplines referred to in subsection (5), the interdisciplinary team may include behaviour management specialists employed with an authority.

             (7)  The investigator shall assign members of the interdisciplinary team to assess the adult's capacity in one or more of the areas referred to in section 5 of the Act in which the investigator has identified that the adult may lack decision-making capacity .

             (8)  Each member of the interdisciplinary team shall assess the adult and provide a written report of the member's findings t o the investigator.

             (9)  A capacity assessment shall

             (a)  be completed in the form approved by the provincial director; and

             (b)  contain copies of the reports referred to in subsection (8).

          (10)  For the purpose of the capacity assessment, each area of decision-making is required to be assessed by at least one member of the interdisciplinary team.

          (11)  The provincial director may establish guidelines for the conduct of capacity assessments.

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Documentation standards

        5. (1) For the purposes of subsection 33(1) of the Act, documents prepared by a person employed in the administration of the Act shall

             (a)  be clear and legible;

             (b)  be impartial;

             (c)  contain only essential and relevant details;

             (d)  include facts to support the person's professional opinion; and

             (e)  only contain abbreviations for terms where the abbreviations have been approved by the provincial director.

             (2)  Where relevant information includes emails and social media posts, the person referred to in subsection (1) shall keep paper copies of the emails and social media posts.

             (3)  A person referred to in subsection (1) shall keep all information regarding an adult in a separate file from a clinical health file relating to the adult.

             (4)  Documents referred to in this section shall be retained in accordance with the department's retention schedule.

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Service plan

        6. A service plan shall include the following:

             (a)  the original date of the service plan and the date of any amendments to it;

             (b)  demographic information about the adult;

             (c)  a description of the needs of the adult;

             (d)  details of the services and programs required to reduce the risk to and to meet the care needs of the adult;

             (e)  a description of the responsibilities of caregivers of the adult;

             (f)  a description of how the adult has been engaged in the development of the service plan;

             (g)  a description of how the adult's preferences and wishes have been incorporated into the service plan;

             (h)  details of any clinical interventions required to reduce the risk and meet the care needs of the adult, including any interventions that restrict the liberties of the adult;

              (i)  a description of the arrangements made or being made to recognize the importance of the adult's identity and cultural and community connections where appropriate;

              (j)  recommendations of the director or director's designate respecting the adult;

             (k)  the recommendations of the review committee, where the service plan is reviewed by the review committee established under section 31 of the Act;

              (l)  a record of all court orders and court dates respecting the adult; and

           (m)  the dates of the service plan reviews.

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Review

        7. (1) An application for a review referred to in section 34 of the Act shall be submitted to the minister in the form set by the minister.

             (2)  Where the application for review relates to an authority's refusal to provide information, the minister shall, following receipt of the application referred to in subsection (1), send a written request to the authority that refused to provide the information requesting that the authority provide

             (a)  all records under consideration; and

             (b)  any documentation related to the authority's consideration and its refusal to provide the requested information.

             (3)  The authority shall provide the information referred to in subsection (2) to the minister within 5 days.

             (4)  The minister shall provide the results of a review under this section to the person requesting the review within 90 days of the minister's receipt of the application for review.

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NLR 53/14 Rep.

        8. The Adult Protection Regulations , NLR 53/14 are repealed.

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Commencement

        9. These regulations come into force on the date the Adult Protection Act, 2021 comes into force.

 

(In force Dec. 15/22)

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