The Illinois legislature recently passed a bill that would allow families to install cameras and other monitoring devices in loved ones’ nursing home rooms. The bill’s enactment would make Illinois the fourth state in the nation to allow such monitoring.
Chicago nursing home abuse lawyer Neal Strom supports the bill. “It makes too much sense,” he explained. “We have the technology. It’s affordable to install a camera. I can’t see what the problem would be unless a nursing home has something to hide.”
Opponents of the bill say it would violate the rights of seniors. Nursing home advocates say that residents often go through a variety of in-room exams and procedures that are very personal in nature. They argue that putting a camera in the room would give families access in a way with which residents may not be comfortable.
Mr. Strom disagrees with that assessment. “Privacy is, of course, an important consideration. But there are methods that can be put in place to conduct those exams and still respect their privacy.”
“The nursing home can figure out how to do those exams and still maintain privacy. What we’re more concerned with is the kind of abuse that can go unnoticed for months or even years.”
Mr. Strom, who is a nursing home abuse lawyer in Chicago, recounts how many family members feel when they learn a loved one has been abused. “They always wish they had known sooner so they could have stopped it,” he exclaimed. “Well, now they’ll have the opportunity to do just that. To me, this is a no-brainer.”
