Informed Consent: The Great Unknown

Informed consent is one of the most important tools that psychologists use to apply their professional ethics. You can think of it as a two-way dialogue between the patient and the healthcare professional. During this dialogue, they discuss the pros and cons of a treatment or psychological test.

Informed consent is a consent that is freely and voluntarily given by the subject for actions related to their health after they have received correct and complete information and considered all their choices.

The origins of the post-war period for informed consent

You may have heard of Josef Mengele, known as Dr. Mengele or “Angel of Death”. This German doctor became famous for his sadism and terrible cruelty . As a member of the Nazi party, Dr. Mengele experimented with humans for many years. He was particularly interested in newborn twins. He used procedures that were painful and caused irreversible physical and mental damage. Some of his subjects died as a result of his experiments.

Informed consent began after World War II (second half of the 20th century). A particularly strong factor in the origin of informed consent is. Below, a large number of leaders, government members and collaborators were accused and found guilty of war crimes.

In 1947, people began to consider consent as a fundamental pillar of scientific research with humans. In this historical context, two North American doctors come into the picture. Leo Alexander and Andrew Conway Ivy came up with a ten-point memorandum on ethical norms called “Consenting Medical Experiments.” Later it became the Nuremberg Code. Voluntary consent was essentially the very first point of the code.

The content of informed consent

The psychologist’s obligation is to inform the patient in a truthful, clear, accurate and complete manner about the study, intervention, treatment or psychological research in which the patient will participate. But what does the patient have the right to know?

• Evaluation of the disease: Inform the patient about the diagnosis of the disease or disorder.
• Nature and duration of the proposed treatment: Number of sessions, follow-up and evaluation.
• Potential hazards, side effects and problems: The most likely risks are based on reliable scientific research.
• Expected benefits.
• Possible alternative treatments.
• Today, psychologists also tend to add a sixth element, which is contractual issues. This refers to payment, payment plans, confidentiality agreements and third party participation.

Conditions for informed consent

Informed consent is the medical-psychological procedure that seeks to respect the principle of the patient’s independence and dignity. It recognizes the duty to respect everyone as individuals and to respect their preferences regarding medical treatment. There are four requirements a person must meet in order to prepare a valid informed consent document:

• Willingness: The psychologist receives consent without external pressure. In other words, the patient must give consent freely and voluntarily, without any pressure, force, fraud, betrayal, persuasion, manipulation or other form of coercion. The psychologist must give the patient enough time to reflect, consult and decide.
• Ability: The individual must have the ability to make decisions. They must have the legal ability to give consent themselves. There are situations where people can not give consent themselves, as in the case of people who are minors, unconscious or have certain mental problems.

• Information: The user must have enough information about the treatment or study to be able to make a reasonable decision.
• Understanding: It is the psychologist’s job to make sure the patient understands all the information. It is the patient’s right to fully understand all the information.

Written and oral consent

It is crucial that the psychologist reads the document aloud and that the patient reads it . The patient should feel completely informed so that they can approve the process freely. In written communication, the process is completed when the patient signs the informed consent document. This signature confirms that the patient is involved in everything that healthcare professionals communicate.

In conclusion, you can see that informed consent is fundamental to psychological practice. Also, if you do not get informed consent, you may be sued for psychological malpractice or negligence.