Notre recherche concerne l’éthique des soins prodigués aux personnes âgées institutionnalisées, spécialement les questions de la capacité à consentir et du traitement involontaire. Notre travail est basé sur la Théorie Fonctionnelle de l'Intégration de l'information de N.H. Anderson (1981). En ce qui concerne l'étude portant sur la capacité à consentir : 98 Hommes de la rue, 21 psychologues, 37 infirmières et 14 médecins ont jugé de la capacité de la personne âgée à faire des choix dans chacun des 50 scénarios proposés, résultants de la combinaison de trois facteurs: "type de Décision", "type de Trouble", et "Soutien social". Pour l'étude portant sur le traitement involontaire : 101 personnes du grand public, 20 psychologues, 20 infirmières et 10 médecins ont jugé de l'acceptabilité du traitement involontaire des 48 scénarios proposés, combinaison de quatre facteurs: "type de Trouble", "Décision du médecin", "Explications données au résident ", "état Cognitif". Les résultats montrent que pour les deux études, le grand public et les professionnels de santé ont intégré les facteurs de la même manière. Pour la première étude, le facteur « type de Trouble » a le plus de poids, suivi par le facteur « Soutien social ». Quatre groupes de répondants se distinguent par les poids qu'ils donnent aux différents facteurs. Concernant l'étude portant sur le traitement involontaire, le facteur le plus influent est « Explications», suivi par « Décision du médecin ». Trois groupes de répondants se distinguent en fonction des patterns de réponse. Les variables individuelles telles que l’âge, le sexe, le niveau d’éducation et l’expérience n’ont pas d’effet. L'évaluation de la capacité à consentir et l’acceptabilité du traitement involontaire sont influencées par les facteurs proposés et il apparaît qu’il existe des positions différentes face à ces questions éthiques. / Our research deals with ethical questions in gerontology, especially the capacity to consent and involuntary treatment. Our research is based on the Integration Information Theory of N.H. Anderson (1981). 98 lay people, 21 psychologists, 37 nurses and 14 physicians judged a nursing home resident’s capacity to consent on 50 scenarios combining 3 factors : “type of Decision”, “type of Problem”, “social Support”. 101 lay people, 20 psychologists, 20 nurses and 10 physicians judged the acceptability of involuntary treatment on 48 scenarios combining 4 factors : “type of Disease”, “physician’s Decision”, “Explanations”, and “Cognitive status”. Results don’t show differences between lay people and health professionals in the way they integrate the factors presented. In the first study, the factor “type of Problem” is the most significant, followed by “social Support”. 4 groups of participants distinguish themselves by the way the weigh the factors. In the second study, the factor “Explanations” is the most significant, followed by “physician’s Decision”. 3 groups of participants distinguish themselves. Individual variables like age, gender, educational level or experience have no effect. Assessment of the capacity to consent and acceptability of involuntary are influenced by the factors presented and it appears that there are different positions among the participants.

Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) / Children's and adolescents' capacity to provide valid informed consent is one of the key ethical concerns in pediatric research, and the focus of this project. The original contribution to knowledge is the advancement of both conceptual and empirical bioethical approaches to research with vulnerable populations. First, a review of adolescent vulnerability is presented to highlight the complex interplay between capacity and other forms of vulnerability. This review is offered as an interdisciplinary analysis to better understand why the study of vulnerable populations is critical to the ethical advancement of clinical research. Results from this analysis suggest the need for enhanced screening techniques as well as the utilization of specialized staff to identify and reduce the impact of different forms of vulnerability. The primary tasks of the empirical portion of the dissertation were to: (1) Adapt a validated adult competency assessment tool for clinical research, the MacArthur Competency Assessment Tool for Clinical Research, to assess the capacity of children and adolescents to consent to clinical research; (2) Identify predictors that impact children and adolescents’ capacity to provide consent to clinical research; and (3) assess differences and similarities in capacity between healthy and chronically ill children and adolescents. Overall results suggest adolescent capacity to consent to research was similar to adults, and most strongly associated with their family's socioeconomic status as well as their level of health literacy. These findings contrast starkly with the age-based criterion for providing consent currently utilized in assent and consent determinations. These findings also provide insights into ways to ethically involve youth in complex biomedical research.