It is important that your own personal views do not influence an individual’s own choices and decisions.

An individual may lack confidence or have sensory impairments and might look to you for support and to help them make decisions. In these circumstances, your role is to help them understand what the different outcomes of the decision or choice will be. You need to support them to explore solutions and feel confident in what is best for them.

Your personal views could simply rule things out for the individual. They could make an individual question their own mind or make them feel pressured into making a different decision to the one they desire. 

It is an individual’s own right to make informed choices and decisions.

The people you support are likely to have different opinions and interests to you and should feel empowered to make decisions which they are comfortable with and meet their needs and preferences.

If an individual makes a decision that you feel is risky, you can support them to understand the consequences and record that you have done this.

Choice in all directions.

Each person will have unique values, beliefs and experiences. 

What might be right for one person, may not be right for another person.  

If an individual does ask you for your opinion on a decision, be objective and explain the different outcomes of the decision and how each different outcome may affect the individual. The individual can then make an informed decision with more confidence and still be in control of their own life.

Mental Capacity Act 2005 (MCA)

This could be where a person is unable to make a particular decision at a particular time because their mind or brain is affected by illness of disability. The Mental Capacity Act’s primary purpose is to promote and safeguard decision-making within a legal framework.