ATTORNEY NEWSLETTER
Can Surveillance in Nursing Homes Be a Real Solution for Elder Abuse?
Elder Abuse
Senior facilities of every kind, including nursing homes, must come to grips with the menace of rising cases of elder abuse, both in San Francisco and beyond. Awareness and dignity training are starters. Families and loved ones must stay alert as well, and monitor all stages of care. But a true elder abuse prevention program needs to dig deeper. Institutions that care for seniors need especially to consider all options when facing the dark reality of elder abuse within their walls. Surveillance cameras are one weapon in the war on elder abuse in institutions and deserve serious attention.
Surveillance
Sometimes elder abuse descends to a “he said, she said” stand-off, a worker’s word against the word of an elder. Surveillance, in this case, can be the solution. In places outside of the United States, such as Canada, they have started to implement cameras in institutions in an effort to slow elder abuse and protect patients. In these cases, patients would be able to choose whether or not to have a camera installed in their room. The third eye of the camera could resolve the “he said, she said” counters in the quest for truth.
Inevitably, some backlash has come in the form of privacy concerns, not of the individual who willingly chooses to have the camera installed, but of their neighbor, friend, or other passerby who does not consent to the surveillance but is filmed accidentally nonetheless.is This is a serious and valid concern and there is no easy answer. But the fact of the matter remains that institutionalized seniors are particularly vulnerable to elder abuse. And the frequency and severity of abuse to which they fall victim is rising. So much so that, in our opinion, any measure that protects seniors, and stems the tide of this menace, should be pursued as long as innocent third parties can somehow also be protected from injury. We believe a suitable balance can be struck.
The Bottom Line
that the use of surveillance cameras with a patient’s consentdeserves very serious consideration. Evans Law Firm supports measures that look to safeguard the health, happiness, and wellness of seniors. We have seen firsthand the horrors of elder abuse. We applaud all serious attempts to protect the elderly from the ravages of abuse in any form.
Contact Us
If you or a loved one has suffered from elder abuse in San Francisco or in any California county, contact the Evans Law Firm elder attorneys at (415) 441-8669, or by email at info@evanslaw.com. Our attorneys have experience with complex financial contracts and large insurance companies. We can help guide your case through a jury trial or toward an equitable settlement. We handle cases involving physical and financial elder abuse, qui tam and whistleblower law, nursing home abuse, whole life insurance and universal life insurance, and indexed, variable, and fixed annuities.
