How the Assessment of Capacity for Everyday Decision-making, or ACED, launched a revolution in the elder care
By Meghan McCarthy
August 2023
Seventeen years ago, on a visiting lectureship to the Geriatrics Division at Yale University, Jason Karlawish, MD, was approached by James Lai, MD. The young physician-in-training wondered if Dr. Karlawish would be open to collaborating on a research idea. Could we develop a measure of a person’s capacity to solve everyday problems?
Dr. Karlawish replied with a resounding “yes,” quickly embracing the role of mentor.
Looking back, he summed up the decision he faced: “This was in the days before Zoom and texting and such, and James was junior and working far away at a different institution. Together, that presented challenges. He couldn’t just stop into my office with a question. But never mind that, I decided. James’ timing was auspicious. I was deeply engaged in research to develop and validate instruments that assess decisional capacity.”
They set to work.