Fiona Catterson, member of the National Dementia Carers’ Action Network (NDCAN) of Alzheimer Scotland reports on her experience participating in the World Congress on Adult Capacity (WCAC):
The World Congress on Adult Capacity (WCAC), formerly known as the World Congress on Adult Guardianship, is a biennial international conference focused on the rights, autonomy, and legal capacity of older people and adults with disabilities. The congress aims to improve policies aligning with the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. I was there as an invited speaker through my involvement as a member of NDCAN with my current lived experience in adult capacity. My session was entitled “Adult Capacity and Lived Experience" and took the format of an interview. My interviewer was Sarah Prentice. She is a Fitness to Practice lawyer with the SSSC – Scottish Social Services Council and also is an Independent Safeguarder, specialising in mental health law, adult incapacity training and acting as a Curatrix ad Litem. Sarah is a member of the World Congress Adult Capacity.
As I was speaking, I could see that the audience were listening and I could hear their reactions to some of the things I said. After our session several people came to speak with Sarah and I. They introduced themselves and said where in the world they were from and because of this we could see that issues here in Scotland resonated with people across the globe. Over the next two days people continued to speak with me about what I had said about the lived experience of adult capacity not matching the legal requirements and the emotional and physical toll on unpaid carers is huge.
