Question of the week

Informed consent

Ethical Principles and Responsibilities

A social worker has a signed consent form in a client's file. What does the signature by itself establish?

Option A. Incorrect answer. That the agency gave the client its standard disclosure form
Option B. Correct answer. That the client agreed, but not that she understood the serviceCorrect
Option C. Incorrect answer. That the client agreed and understood what she was agreeing to

Why

Valid consent needs five things together: capacity, disclosure, comprehension, voluntariness and authorisation. A signature is the authorisation part, and it is evidence that something happened, not proof that the other four did. A describes what the agency handed over, which is not what a signature records. C is the assumption this whole topic exists to unsettle, and it is the one a board will test if a complaint arrives; understanding has to be built and checked, not inferred from a name on a page. When an option treats the form as the end of the matter, ask whether anyone confirmed the client understood.