THE ETHICS OF CAMERAS IN RESIDENT ROOMS: FINDINGS FROM A SURVEY OF NURSING HOME AND ASSISTED LIVING FACILITIES

Abstract

The emergence of affordable web-enabled video cameras normalizes their use for care purposes. With growing ease of access and affordability, families with loved ones in nursing homes or assisted living communities commonly turn to cameras to protect elders in residential care from the possibility of harm. Six states have now passed laws to regulate in-room camera use, and others have bills in progress. In the context of a growing aging population and intensifying strain on the direct care workforce, gerontologists and policy makers must delineate the ethical problems this practice responds to and presents. This presentation describes findings from the first survey of nursing homes and assisted living facilities about in-room cameras and facility policies. The survey was distributed nationally to members of the American Health Care Association and National Center for Assisted Living (n=273) and included two open-ended questions on perceived risks and benefits. Drawing on the issues that respondents prioritized, this presentation describes three ethical challenges, which have not all previously been articulated. First, how do in-room cameras affect the privacy and dignity of the residents? Second, what does being under surveillance do to care workers’ sense of being fiduciaries for the clients? Third, how does this discretionary monitoring approach privatize a systemic need to protect elders? This analysis underscores policymakers’, facilities’, and family members’ responsibility for understanding the ethical implications of camera use in older adults’ living spaces, including potential dehumanizing aspects that may undermine bigger-picture and more inclusive responses to the institutional problem of abuse.