Nursing Facility Surveillance Growing

Driven by a mistrust of nursing homes, more families are taking advantage of advances in surveillance technology and using video cameras to help protect loved ones they suspect are being abused or mistreated by caregivers.

Even some facility managers and law enforcement officials are now using hidden cameras to catch workers who mistreat elderly or vulnerable residents. No figures are available, but specialists in the long-term care industry say the use of so-called "granny cams" is spreading, though the technology is also raising a host of legal and privacy issues.

Just this spring, an Ohio man placed a hidden camera in a desk fan to catch two nursing home workers abusing and hitting his 78-year-old mother, who suffers from Alzheimer's disease. In New Jersey, workers were caught abusing an 87-year-old woman, prompting a wrongful-death lawsuit in June. In New York, authorities arrested 22 workers last year after hidden cameras revealed maltreatment of residents in two facilities.

Georgia Anetzberger, president-elect of the National Committee for the Prevention of Elder Abuse, said the spread of cameras in nursing homes is part of a broader proliferation of video surveillance in society to catch anything from traffic violations to shoplifting.

"Cameras are used to catch people more than ever before, not just because the technology is there but because it's more widely accepted," she said.

For years, however, the long-term care industry has fought legislative efforts across the United States to legalize the use of cameras, citing insurance costs and resident and employee privacy issues. Critics said cameras would make it more difficult to hire staff and that they also could misrepresent an incident.

The push to install video cameras in long-term care facilities started to gain momentum a decade ago. Legislation was introduced in more than 15 states, but only three -- Texas, New Mexico and Maryland -- adopted laws addressing the use of cameras in nursing homes, according to a 2007 article in the Baylor Law Review.

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Families Using Video Cameras in Nursing Homes to Protect Loved Ones