'What do they not want me to see?' Advocates push to allow cameras inside nursing homes
To the nursing home industry, it sounds like an Orwellian nightmare – and an invasion of privacy.
But to advocates, allowing cameras to be installed in residents' rooms would protect a vulnerable segment of the population from mistreatment, abuse, and neglect, while giving their relatives peace of mind.
"While you might not choose electronic monitoring for yourself or a loved one, we’re simply asking you to allow others to make that choice for themselves," Kathleen Gerard of Advocates for Better Care in Rhode Island told the House Committee on Health and Human Services on Tuesday.
Under H 7969, sponsored by Rep. Jason Knight, D-Barrington, and S 2263, introduced by Sen. Dawn Euer, family members could install a surveillance camera in a loved one's room in a nursing home or assisted living facility, and remotely monitor their care. The resident would have to consent, unless their doctor determines they are incapable of doing so.
At Tuesday's hearing in the House, Gerard told the committee that her late husband, John, was subjected to "verbal abuse, humiliation and ongoing neglect" at a well-rated assisted living facility in Rhode Island after he developed early-onset Alzheimer's disease. That facility would not allow her to place a camera in his private room, she said, and neither would the other facilities where she tried to move him.
"This bill is not for my husband, who died just over two years ago," Gerard said. "This bill is for the residents in Burrillville and Warwick who were sexually assaulted by other residents in October and November. The East Bay resident who went seven hours without treatment for two broken bones in September. The Smithfield resident on oxygen whose roommate started a fire in their room."
"And the countless residents who fall when no one is around, languishing on the floor until someone comes at the next mealtime."
Nursing home industry calls proposal 'insulting and invasive'
According to nursing home industry groups, allowing video cameras in residents' rooms would be intrusive and unnecessary.
"Constant video surveillance is more like '1984' than homelike," Rhode Island Healthcare Association CEO and President John Gage wrote to the committee.
James Nyberg, executive director of Leading Age Rhode Island, similarly said in his written testimony that cameras would "add a 'Big Brother' feeling."
Nursing home residents often need help with bathing, dressing and toileting, Gage pointed out. While the camera could be disabled at sensitive moments, "someone who would actually abuse an elder would likely disable the camera before that were to occur."
Overall, Gage said, mistreatment of nursing home residents is rare. He said that electronic monitoring would be "insulting and invasive" to staff.
The ACLU of Rhode Island "appreciates the intent behind this bill" and accepts that "individuals who wish to use technology to videotape themselves generally should have the right to do so," wrote executive director Steven Brown.
But there are practical concerns that need to be addressed, he said. For instance, while residents could say that they want the camera turned off during sensitive moments, it's unclear how that would work if the resident is incapable of controlling the device on their own.
'What do they not want me to see?'
SEIU 1199 New England, which represents workers at unionized nursing homes, sees a benefit to allowing cameras: It would lead to "a safer workplace ... without the fear of unfounded allegations or misunderstandings," wrote political director Alex Moore.
AARP Rhode Island, which noted that 20 other states have passed similar legislation, is also backing the proposal. The organization did suggest a number of changes, such as adding more privacy protections for residents' roommates.
Roughly a dozen members of the public expressed support for the bill. Ana Alosco said that her mother was mysteriously injured in separate incidents at two Rhode Island nursing homes after a stroke left her unable to speak. In both cases, the staff never provided an explanation, she said.
"When the facility administrators won't allow you to have a camera in your loved one's room to monitor their care and condition, you must ask: What do they not want me to see?" wrote Maureen S. Ryan.
Electronic monitoring "would help in alleviating the anxiety and fear I know many families (including my own) feel and struggle with on a daily basis" another supporter of the bill, Elise Bouley, wrote to the committee.
In her own written testimony, Gerard said that it was disingenuous for the nursing home industry to evoke "Big Brother." The goal is to empower "the most powerless and vulnerable individuals," she said, and many facilities already have cameras in common areas.
Neglect and abuse are problems that require broad, systemic changes, she said, but "one easy way to supplement real reform in the interim is by empowering residents and their family advocates to monitor their care and conditions and hold facilities accountable."
This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: RI granny-cam bill would allow surveillance cameras in nursing home rooms
