The Mental Capacity Act (MCA) received Royal Assent in 2005 and came into full effect on1st October 2007. We know very little about how the MCA is understood among Black and minority ethnic communities and what efforts were made to ensure that people understood the Act and to support communities. It is to address this gap that the Mental Health Foundation undertook this research with funding from SCIE.

Based on interviews with representatives from thirteen BME organisations with local, regional and national remits, the report makes recommendations about what needs to be done to increase awareness of the Act and to ensure that people from BME communities engage with and benefit from the Act. Recommendations include setting up systems to evaluate and monitor the impact of the Act on the various BME communities, encouraging and resourcing collaborative commissioning of IMCA services for BME communities, reviewing the "cultural influences" section of the Code, and funding awareness raising programmes in partnership with community-based BME organisations.

The report is written by Jayasree Kalathil and Rowan Myron and published by the Mental Health Foundation. Download a free copy of the report here..