michael.mcenery@sheffield.gov.uk mental-capacity Related advice and downloads Making your own decisions (and help when you can’t)
Being able to make your own decisions about your life is important. When you can’t, there is help available to make decisions for you that are the same as what you would want, or would support you or protect you.
This is often called ‘mental capacity’, meaning the ability to understand or make decisions. You may not have mental capacity if you can't do 1 or more of these things.
Understand information given to you to make a particular decision.
Retain information given to you long enough to be able to make the decision.
Use or weigh up information given to you to make the decision.
Communicate your decision.
There are lots of rules about how to work out if someone has mental capacity, and who can help someone to make decisions, based…