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August 25, 2015 at 01:36 AM
Long-term care (LTC) planning specialists may have a new question to talk about: What do clients and their caregivers think about in-room video surveillance?
Illinois has become the sixth U.S. state to enact a law giving nursing home residents the right to install video cameras and audio recording devices in their rooms.
Gov. Bruce Rauner signed the bill creating the law, H.B. 2462, Friday. The bill was proposed by Rep. Greg Harris, D-Chicago.
See also: Jumbo liability claims hit continuing care communities
Starting in January 2016, Illinois will give residents of nursing homes and residents of homes for the intellectually or developmentally disabled the right to pay for outside electronic monitoring systems or services for their own rooms.
Critics of “nanny cam” bills and laws in Illinois and in other states have argued that in-room electronic surveillance systems could cause privacy problems, by leading to conflicts between residents and their loved ones, and between residents and roommates.
Illinois lawmakers have tried to deal with privacy concerns by giving the nursing home residents themselves the right to reject efforts by guardians or others to install in-room surveillance devices.
See also: Elder abuse statistics
Residents who say they want in-room monitoring devices and have roommates must get written permission from the roommates before installing the devices, and the residents and roommates can have the devices turned off at any time, according to the statute text.
