Informed consent
Short definition
Informed consent is the free and informed permission a person gives for a health intervention or for taking part in a study, after receiving adequate information about its purpose, nature, benefits and risks.
In plain language
It is an ethical and legal principle of healthcare, enshrined, for example, in the Oviedo Convention, and it can be withdrawn at any time. When a person lacks capacity to decide, as in advanced stages of dementia, the rules on legal representation apply, while still listening to the person. It is not the same as GDPR consent: processing health data to provide care generally has a different legal basis.