Autonomía de las personas mayores vulnerables y su aplicación al ámbito sanitario

Abstract

The Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD), adopted by the United Nations in New York on 13th December 2006 as a legally binding treaty, was created with the purpose of guaranteeing the recognition of people with disabilities and, by extension, the rest of vulnerable groups (traditionally marginalized), of their right to exercise their legal capacity in the same terms of equality as the rest in all spheres in life. After several failed attempts to adapt the Spanish legal framework to this convention, Law 8/2021, of 2nd June, on the reform of civil and procedural law for the support of people with disabilities in the exercise of their legal capacity, was enacted. This law meant a paradigm shift because it replaced the substitute decision-making model with a model based on the respect for the wishes and preferences of people with disabilities, by regulating a wide variety of support measures so that the purpose established at an international level could be possible. Some legal concepts deeply rooted in our laws such as incapacitation and the traditional protective legal concepts of guardianship and curatorship were left behind as a reflection not only of a new social reality but also of respect, without exception, for the rights to free will, dignity and free development of the personality for all members of a rule of law. However, the success of the aforementioned reform law implies the necessary effort of the society in general and the different agents involved in the legal system in particular, besides the necessary change of mind-set of the entire society and the necessary amendment of health legislation, where there are still bodies that should be tacitly deemed as revoked in light of said law. On the other hand, such amendment is a crucial step to take on the new challenges in the context of healthcare, particularly within the European framework, which are based on the holistic care of patients and focused on the person and the respect for his/her decisions.