ABSTRACT
Older age can bring forth significant lifestyle changes that require serious thought and decision making. Although healthcare professionals support care planning and decision making with clients of all ages and diagnoses, there is increased prevalence of significant health and lifestyle change in older age and the increased risk of losing cognitive ability to make complex choices through illness, such as dementia. This chapter discusses topics around decision making in later life, including topics such as advanced care planning and mental capacity. Mental capacity for decision making rests on particular decisions, so someone might demonstrate the mental capacity to wear a T-shirt outside in cold weather and weigh up the pros and cons of this but might not be able to demonstrate the mental capacity to make complex financial decisions. There are legal processes that are required for formal advanced decision making or refusal of treatment and for the carrying out and interpretation of mental capacity assessments.
