Security cameras in nursing homes present ethical dilemmas

Some say the safety precautions may do more harm than good


Security cameras installed by relatives in nursing homes may do more harm than good, according to Clara Berridge, an assistant professor of social work at the University of Washington.

In articles published late last winter in AJOB Empirical Bioethics and Elder Law Journal, Berridge outlines the list of legal and moral issues that surveillance raises, according to an article on the University of Washington website.

Surveillance cameras record all of the activity in a room, including personal moments such as hygiene or dressing. From a crime-prevention perspective, those are times when a resident is most vulnerable, but there are privacy issues.

Plus, there is an issue of consent – not only whether the resident has the capacity to consent to being monitored, but also, in the case of two-person rooms, whether the roommate can consent.

Read the article.



May 16, 2019


Topic Area: Security


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