Legal capacity and supported decision-making rights for people with psychosocial disabilities: Insights from the WHO QualityRights training

AI Summary

QualityRights training increased health professionals' awareness of human rights and supported decision-making, with high satisfaction and anticipated practice changes.
Training fostered critical reflection and emotional engagement, revealing tensions between legal norms, family bonds and ethical dilemmas in daily care.
Study recommends wider dissemination of supported decision-making and integrating human rights education into health professional programmes to promote autonomy and dignity.

Int J Law Psychiatry. 2026 May 12;108:102234. doi: 10.1016/j.ijlp.2026.102234. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

This study explored the perceptions of Brazilian health professionals regarding legal capacity, supported decision-making, and advanced planning for individuals with psychosocial, intellectual, and cognitive disabilities. Grounded in the WHO QualityRights training modules, the research employed a mixed-methods, descriptive-exploratory design. Two training sessions were conducted with 26 health professionals from a Family Health Unit, followed by quantitative evaluations and qualitative content analysis of participants feedback. Results from post-training questionnaires indicated high satisfaction, with approval rates ranging from 84.2% to 92.3% across indicators such as relevance, clarity, and impact. Participants reported increased awareness of human rights and anticipated changes in both professional practices and personal attitudes. Qualitative analysis revealed four central themes: emotional engagement, family dynamics, autonomy, and ethical dilemmas. Narratives emphasized tensions between legal norms and affective bonds, underscoring the complexities of implementing supported decision-making in real-life contexts. The findings suggest that QualityRights training not only conveys technical knowledge but also fosters critical reflection and emotional resonance, facilitating the internalization of human rights principles. Participants demonstrated an improved understanding of the importance of recognizing individual will, even in contexts of familial or institutional resistance. The study highlights the need for further dissemination of supported decision-making practices and recommends integrating human rights education into health professional training programs to promote autonomy and dignity in mental health care.

PMID:42119180 | DOI:10.1016/j.ijlp.2026.102234

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