Prompted post #7 Controversy over cameras

In Illinois there is a controversy regarding putting cameras in residents of nursing homes rooms, so that they can be constantly monitored to see if anything goes wrong, and if it does they can know exactly what happened. People that are in the nursing homes are fighting for this because they believe that they are abused and neglected by workers at the nursing home. There have been over 60,000 allegations blaming staff of abusing or neglecting residents, so people want to take steps to stop this from happening. By putting cameras in the residents rooms it will stop this abuse because they will constantly be under surveillance . But according to Greg Crist, the senior vice president of public affairs for the American Health Care Association "We are infringing on someones privacy, arguably for their own good, we have to make sure its justified." (Bergal n.p) Another issue regarding this is the owners of the nursing homes are worried that employees will leave because they are being constantly scrutinized in the workplace and will not like being on camera at all times.

Many people believe that having electronic surveillance in the rooms is a huge privacy violation, especially if they are hidden cameras. People want to still be able to enjoy their privacy, but with all the complaints about neglect and abuse in assisted living centers, others are seriously trying to push the issue through legislation. Legislation has failed in many states already, but people continue to push the issue. Some believe that with consent a patient should have the right to decide whether or not to have the equipment installed in the room, but they have to take into account those that cannot consent for themselves. This means that family members would have to consent for them and that could be shaky because consent is a tricky subject. Others have suggested instead of using video cameras to just use audio equipment, but this would be less reliable in stopping abuse in the nursing homes. About 1.5 million people reside in over 16,000 nursing homes in America so the issue of paying for all the cameras also comes up. According to Crist, "The cameras should not be the end all be all for ensuring quality care" (Bergal n.p) . IN Texas they passed these laws with the requirments that the resident pay for the camera and that a sign be posted saying that electronic surveillance is being used.

I dont know if putting cameras in peoples rooms is going to stop the neglect and abuse but it is a controversy that is still being discussed and no permanent outcome has been found. http://www.pewtrusts.org/en/research-and-analysis/blogs/stateline/2014/09/25/nursing-home-cameras-create-controversyyet.