Informed Consent: The Great Unknown

Informed consent is one of the most important tools psychologists use to put their professional ethics into practice. You could see it as a two-way conversation between the patient and the expert. During this dialogue, they primarily discuss the advantages and disadvantages of a treatment or psychological examination.

Informed consent is consent given voluntarily by the data subject for actions related to his health after receiving correct and complete information and after considering all options.

The Post-War Origins of 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 for years on human subjects.

He was especially interested in newborn twins. He used painful procedures that caused irreversible physical and psychological damage. Some of his subjects have even died as a result of his experiments.

Informed consent emerged after World War II (during the second half of the 20th century). A particularly strong factor in the emergence of informed consent is the Nuremberg trial.

During the Nuremberg Trial, a large number of directors, government officials and camp workers were charged and found guilty of war crimes.

In 1947, consent was considered a basic pillar of human scientific research. In this historical context, two North American doctors come into the picture.

Leo Alexander and Andrew Conway Ivy came up with a ten point note on ethical standards called “ Permissible Medical Experiments.” Later it became the Nuremberg Code. Voluntary consent was essentially the very first point of the code.

The content of the informed consent

The psychologist’s obligation is to inform the patient in a true, clear, accurate and complete manner about the intervention, treatment or psychological examination in which the patient will participate. What exactly is the patient’s right to know?

• Evaluation of the condition. This involves informing the patient about the diagnosis of the disease or condition.

• Nature and duration of the proposed treatment. These include the number of sessions, follow-up and evaluation.
• Possible risks, side effects and problems. This is primarily about the most likely risks based on reliable scientific research.
• Expected benefits.
• Possible alternative treatments.
• Today, psychologists also tend to add a sixth element, which is contractual issues. This includes payment, payment arrangements, nondisclosure agreements and the participation of third parties.

Informed Consent Conditions

Informed consent is the procedure that aims to ensure the principle of the patient’s autonomy and dignity. It upholds the duty to respect everyone as an individual and also to respect their preferences regarding medical treatment.

There are four requirements that a person must meet in order to prepare a valid informed consent document:

• Willingness.  The psychologist receives permission without external pressure. In other words, the patient must give consent freely and voluntarily, without any pressure, coercion, fraud, deception, persuasion, manipulation or any other form of coercion. The psychologist must give the patient sufficient time to think, consult and decide.
• Skill.  The individual must be able to make decisions. They must have the legal opportunity to give consent for themselves. There are situations where people are unable to give consent for themselves, such as in the case of people who are minors or unconscious or have certain mental health problems.

• Information. The user must have sufficient information about the treatment or examination to be able to make a reasonable decision.
• Understand. It is the psychologist’s job to ensure that the patient understands all the information. It is also the patient’s right to fully understand all information.

Written and oral consent

It is crucial that the psychologist reads the document aloud and that the patient reads it afterwards. The patient should feel fully informed so that he can freely approve the process.

In the case of written communication, the process ends when the patient signs the document. This signature confirms that the patient consents to everything the healthcare provider has communicated.

In conclusion, you can see that informed consent is fundamental to psychology. In addition, if you don’t get informed consent, you could be charged with psychological malpractice or negligence.