What is the nature of Mental Capacity Act training and how do health and social care practitioners change their practice post-training? A narrative review

Aim: To identify training strategies and determine how registered health and social care practitioners change their practice post Mental Capacity Act training. Design: Narrative literature review Data sources: Seventeen databases were searched up to December 2019; CINAHL, Social Care Online, PubMed, Social Policy and Practice, Discover, Medline, Science Direct, Ovid, PsycINFO, ASSIA, Social Services Abstracts, Science Direct, Academic Search Premier, Web of Science, British Nursing Index, DH-Data, King’s Fund Library Catalogue. Review Methods: Empirical studies of any design investigating Mental Capacity Act training were searched and screened. Data were extracted to a bespoke spreadsheet and quality assessed. Reporting followed the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta‐Analyses, (PRISMA). Results: Of 162 papers identified, 16 were included comprising qualitative, quantitative and mixed methods studies. Trainees valued interactive training with close alignment to practice. Training did not lead to demonstrable practice change. Barriers in the context and cultures of care environments were identified. Conclusion: To facilitate application of Mental Capacity Act legislation, identified barriers should be addressed. Future training should be interactive, scenario-based and relevant to trainees’ practice