| Sumario: | Conducting research with persons with dementia can be a daunting task for new and experienced researchers. A myriad of concepts related to the consent process need to be considered. Historically, efforts to provide federal guidelines for the consent process with persons with dementia have been unsuccessful. Since 1979, the Belmont Report has been the guide for individual Institutional Review Boards and researchers. Efforts are currently underway to develop federal guidelines, but considerable time is anticipated before approval and implementation would take place. Existing international guidelines for defining capacity and the process of consent are examined briefly for comparison. The purpose of this review is to provide historical background and an overview of current regulatory guidelines related to the consent process; examine the role of legally authorized representatives; explore decision-making capacity, capacity, and competency as influencing factors in obtaining consent and assent both in the United States and internationally; and, to discuss methodological challenges and considerations. A dialogue among the present authors resulted in a synthesis of four exemplars as a 'partnership of consent' and subsequently an algorithm was designed to assist future researchers.
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