Lynn A. Schaefer – författare

A Casebook of Mental Capacity in US Legislation: Assessment and Legal Commentary employs an applied and accessible approach to the assessment of mental capacity. Through the use of rich vignettes and case examples, the text provides legal commentary to illustrate state laws and ethical principles from varied decision-making capacities in distinct settings to fortify its assessment.The text begins by providing a background about decision-making capacity as a construct. It also provides practical guidance on capacity assessment germane to a broad range of clinical settings, including geropsychology, health psychology, and neuropsychology. It moves on to reviewing decision-making rights that make up capacity, and provides ethical guidelines while drawing the practitioner’s attention to the common pitfalls. The case presentations and legal commentary underline key areas such as the capacity to consent to medical treatment, make welfare decisions, enter into a sexual relationship, make financial decisions, create or revoke a will, litigate and contract, and stand trial. It also includes a chapter focusing on integrating culture and diversity in capacity evaluations with the aim of increasing the practitioner’s competence. This casebook will be useful for clinical psychologists in practice, researchers and students seeking to understand how to perform capacity assessments, as well as other related healthcare professionals. It is further aimed at legal professionals to utilize as a reference that details how individual types of capacity are defined and assessed.

A Casebook of Mental Capacity in US Legislation: Assessment and Legal Commentary employs an applied and accessible approach to the assessment of mental capacity. Through the use of rich vignettes and case examples, the text provides legal commentary to illustrate state laws and ethical principles from varied decision-making capacities in distinct settings to fortify its assessment.The text begins by providing a background about decision-making capacity as a construct. It also provides practical guidance on capacity assessment germane to a broad range of clinical settings, including geropsychology, health psychology, and neuropsychology. It moves on to reviewing decision-making rights that make up capacity, and provides ethical guidelines while drawing the practitioner’s attention to the common pitfalls. The case presentations and legal commentary underline key areas such as the capacity to consent to medical treatment, make welfare decisions, enter into a sexual relationship, make financial decisions, create or revoke a will, litigate and contract, and stand trial. It also includes a chapter focusing on integrating culture and diversity in capacity evaluations with the aim of increasing the practitioner’s competence. This casebook will be useful for clinical psychologists in practice, researchers and students seeking to understand how to perform capacity assessments, as well as other related healthcare professionals. It is further aimed at legal professionals to utilize as a reference that details how individual types of capacity are defined and assessed.

Working with the Brain in Psychology: Considering Careers in Neuropsychology seeks to assist students in their career exploration, by introducing them early, in the contemplative stage of career planning, to the fascinating speciality of psychology known as neuropsychology. The text spends considerable time differentiating neuropsychology from alternative career paths, and provides personal accounts, contributions from neuropsychologists in various settings, and case examples of different patient populations to illustrate what it is like to train to become and work as a neuropsychologist.This text begins by describing what neuropsychology is, how it is situated within psychology, and for whom it could be a good fit. Suggestions are provided about how to engage in self-assessment in order to help choose a career. It goes on to review over a dozen similar and overlapping careers to illustrate how neuropsychology stands out. Quotes by professional neuropsychologists bring to life what "a day in the life" looks like in different settings, and the kinds of populations with whom neuropsychologists work are illustrated with case examples. This book then outlines how one becomes a neuropsychologist, including how to re-specialize from a different field. It also gives an honest appraisal of potential challenges that come with this career, and ends with anticipated future directions in the profession to look forward to.This book will be useful primarily for psychology-minded undergraduates and college graduates thinking of going on to graduate school for psychology, as well as for high school students interested in the brain and psychology. This book is further aimed at those considering a change of career from a related field into neuropsychology, as well as the guidance counselors and college career centers that assist with career planning. It is accompanied by a freely available eResource full of related weblinks that will be of use to students wanting further information and guidance.

Working with the Brain in Psychology: Considering Careers in Neuropsychology seeks to assist students in their career exploration, by introducing them early, in the contemplative stage of career planning, to the fascinating speciality of psychology known as neuropsychology. The text spends considerable time differentiating neuropsychology from alternative career paths, and provides personal accounts, contributions from neuropsychologists in various settings, and case examples of different patient populations to illustrate what it is like to train to become and work as a neuropsychologist.This text begins by describing what neuropsychology is, how it is situated within psychology, and for whom it could be a good fit. Suggestions are provided about how to engage in self-assessment in order to help choose a career. It goes on to review over a dozen similar and overlapping careers to illustrate how neuropsychology stands out. Quotes by professional neuropsychologists bring to life what "a day in the life" looks like in different settings, and the kinds of populations with whom neuropsychologists work are illustrated with case examples. This book then outlines how one becomes a neuropsychologist, including how to re-specialize from a different field. It also gives an honest appraisal of potential challenges that come with this career, and ends with anticipated future directions in the profession to look forward to.This book will be useful primarily for psychology-minded undergraduates and college graduates thinking of going on to graduate school for psychology, as well as for high school students interested in the brain and psychology. This book is further aimed at those considering a change of career from a related field into neuropsychology, as well as the guidance counselors and college career centers that assist with career planning. It is accompanied by a freely available eResource full of related weblinks that will be of use to students wanting further information and guidance.

This pioneering book covers a broad range of reversible causes of cognitive decline and dementia, ranging from the basic neuroscience of the condition to clinical manifestations and practice treatment implications.It offers something new to the field of dementia assessment and treatment by shining a light on the multiple comorbidities that compound the patient’s clinical presentation and exacerbate cognitive decline and by presenting differential diagnoses and the imperative to rule out reversible causes of cognitive impairment/dementia in one key text. Taking a global approach, chapters include mild cognitive impairment and the impact of drugs and substance abuse and other medication effects. The book goes on to look at depression and other psychiatric presentations, chronic pain, metabolic conditions, and tumors and other space-occupying lesions. Infectious diseases and other medical illnesses that affect cognition are explored, along with the impact of sleep disorders and delirium. The book concludes with a focus on applications and treatment when maximizing an older person’s functioning and assessing their cognition and/or their capacity.It is essential reading for clinicians, researchers, and specialist nurses in aging and dementia as well as students of neuropsychology/neurocognition, medicine, and health and social work.