Informed Consent
For informed consent to occur, there must be a shared
decision-making process between the psychologist and the person with
whom the psychologist is engaged in a professional relationship
(whether patient, client, or research subject). The psychologist must
present adequate information to the other person such that he or she can
understand and then decide whether to participate in that professional
relationship. Three additional conditions must be met in order for
informed consent to be legally valid:
- The information presented to the client must be easily able to be understood by the client.
- The client’s agreement to participate has to be voluntary.
- The client must be legally competent to give consent.
For this assignment, you explore informed consent considerations for
populations that need specific protections. To prepare, select one of
the following populations to use for this Discussion: minors,
prisoners, inpatients, or individuals with cognitive impairments.
Write the name of the population you
selected. Describe considerations relevant to this population that
might affect informed consent. Include specific information you would
and would not cover when reviewing the limits of confidentiality with a
client from your chosen population.
