the workers a lot. It would help the families. It
would help the residents. There’s so much good
a camera can do.”
Ohio House Rep. Juanita Brent, a Democrat
from suburban Cleveland who introduced a
bill late last year that would allow cameras,
said she’s heard from numerous families since
the pandemic hit who haven’t been able to
see their relatives for months and now want to
install them.
“People are now understanding the urgency of
why we need this implemented,” she said. “You
feel kind of helpless.”
The cameras allow families to monitor loved
ones in real time or make recordings. In most
cases, residents can ask that they be turned
off for privacy. There are safeguards to protect
roommates from being filmed unknowingly.
Signs in rooms alert staff and visitors that the
cameras are operating.
Both Connecticut’s Department of Public
Health commissioner and the state’s
nursing home industry have voiced
privacy concerns.
“The public disclosure of the very private
material concerning nursing home residents
can be devastating, especially given the
impossibility of a foolproof assurance that
the data or streaming material cannot be
compromised,” Matthew Barrett, president and
CEO of the Connecticut Association of Health
Care Facilities, said in testimony submitted to
Connecticut lawmakers.
Hidden cameras should only be allowed as part
of a criminal investigation, he said.