A 62 year old man named Fred is living on disability support for his mental health issues; he lives in a care facility where he requires support for functioning in day to day life. Fred suffers from schizophrenia and often has hallucinations of people trying to hurt him; he is on various medications but continues to have problems. He spends most of his time in the home watching TV without much interaction with other people. His younger sister is his legal guardian and visits him most weeks. It is discovered by his carers that he has a large lump on his back and he is sent to hospital to have it checked. It is discovered by doctors that he has cancer, he is faced with two options he can rather receive treatment in the form of chemotherapy which will prolong his life but will make him increasingly sick throughout the treatment; or he can decide to not receive treatment so he does not have to suffer through chemotherapy. Fred decides that he wishes to receive chemotherapy to prolong his life despite the implications in may cause him in the meantime, his sister on the other hand thinks that it would be best that he doesn't receive treatment as he suffers enough with his current health issues. The team of doctors treating Fred request a psychiatric assessment to see if Fred is able to make decisions for himself and that he understands the situation he is in.
You are the psychiatrist who is to test and decide if Fred is able to make this decision.
It is proposed that regardless of the outcome of the tests, you say that Fred can make his own decision to recieve chemotherapy.