Table 3.

Summary of findings

Theme	Finding
Positive experiences	Having a legal basis for decision-making was recognised as useful Benefits such as increased safety and quality of life were sometimes described The ability to use the mechanisms of the Acts to plan for the future was seen as beneficial, although only a minority did this The legislation was sometimes perceived as empowering
Negative experiences	Court and other legal processes were seen as challenging and cumbersome, and costs may be off-putting Some participants had extremely negative experiences The legislation was sometimes perceived as disempowering
Decision-making	Decisions were sometimes but not always made with the disabled adult's participation Carers sometimes struggled to make decisions in the best interests of the adult lacking capacity There could be conflicts of interest between the adult lacking capacity and the decision maker
Other issues	There were variable findings related to support and supervision There was a lack of understanding of the legislation on the part of the general public and carers A need for carers to be assertive was described The most common reason for applying for powers was because of a wish for a formal role in decision-making There were no findings about carers' abilities to assess capacity There were no findings about deprivation of liberty Data were mainly derived from carers