The memory care unit where my mother lives isn't allowing the Amazon Echo Show. My mother doesn't pick up the phone anymore. In short, she can't remember anything and sometimes how things work, like a telephone, but she is very sociable and sometimes lonely. The Amazon echo show has a feature that allows me to drop in on her and just show up on her dresser! She really took to it right away and liked it a lot, but the facility said it was against their rules and took it out of the room. I said I would sign a waiver, but it's not looking good so far. I would never put anyone in a facility that does not allow this type of device to communicate with a relative.
These are built in to TVs now, so eventually they will have to face this situation and I think they will have to allow it or risk losing customers.
The caregiver knew about the cameras which were placed AFTER she was hired a year or so prior. She thought she could deal with the cameras but it made her too nervous. Don't blame her, I surely wouldn't want to work in an office where I am being filmed.
The caregiver gave her 30 day notice. It became a nightmare trying to find a new caregiver, not because of the camera, but because my boss' wife wouldn't accept any of them. She wanted the prior caregiver back. Boss said he would remove the cameras, but the trust was lost, and the caregiver said no. She found other clients.
The standard should be that they want you to watch what's going on so that you can see what excellent care they give!
That said, it is my connection, and does not belong to the "home". It's a private room and I agree to not hold them liable for anything related to it.
Personally, I think that they should be held to the same standard that many businesses are held to, and that is that we are all being recorded, police being a good example.
I'm sure that the idea of piping natural gas into homes, wiring homes with outlets of 110V with 20A of current were thought to be crazy. Sure, there are problems, but in general we all appreciate the lights, heat and cooking capabilities that this type of power gives us all and is considered a standard in the developed world. Few advancements come without any cost.
I like your suggestion and I think I will pull out the original agreement and see exactly what it says! The longer this "blackout" goes on, the stronger that I feel about it.
How many nursing homes have the funds to provide such a high level of security, or to handle a data breach, or to hire top notch security officials?
I've read that medical information has become a hacker's delight because the information can be leveraged in ways different from financial information.
SouthHaven, we can each play our part to protect private information, but WE are not the ones in control of it all the time. Business, banks, forums, doctors, hospitals, catalogue companies, retailers - any can have personal information. And as we've seen with Equifax, data collection of some of the most personal information isn't even safe with a company that specializes in information gathering.
And how many people post to the so-called "Cloud?" That's been hacked as well.
I'm not challenging your right to establish a good communication method with your mother, but if the nursing home files were hacked, through a data breach from Echo or Alexa, would you want to be blamed for using the devices?
"Putting it to sleep" doesn't stop hackers. Sometime ago, vulnerable ports used have a lot to do with breaches but hackers continue to grow more sophisticated, and use whatever means they can to infiltrate.
I'm still wondering what the admission papers established in terms of using such devices.
- no roommates
- private apartment, private internet connection (I pay for it)
- nobody has access to it except Mom
- it was working great and nobody complained (treating it as a single use device)
- the echo-show can be put to sleep with the touch of a button, plus I have special access that allows me to do everything from my home and I put it to sleep whenever I'm not using it
- in terms of hacking, it's true that everything can be hacked, telephones, smart-phones, laptops, bank accounts, everything, but we all just have to do our best and try to stay as safe as possible - we could stay at home for fear of crossing the street, but then there are earthquakes, floods, etc.
btw, the great thing about this is that my Mom doesn't have to do anything! I was calling her while she was in bed. She didn't even have to move her head! She could just se and hear me and vice-versa, so no need for her to do or understand anything about it.
1. If mom has a roommate it definitely is an invasion of privacy. This may be a non-starter.
2. Do they have the bandwidth and signal strength in her room to support your and other's devices?
3. These devices can be used to shop, play music, etc. and may easily have range beyond her room.
How does this get controlled - so mom (or other patients) do not decide to jam some Tony Bennett when people are trying to sleep?
Will you accept responsibility for unauthorized purchases, or would you hold the facility responsible?
4. What happens if mom eventually starts getting more confused by it? What if she wants to talk to you and you are not there - will this be more emotionally upsetting?
5. What about HIPPA? Maybe you can sign a waiver for your mom, but what about another patient it can pick up, or nurse discussions of other patients?
They would be foolish to allow this without a policy in place. A well thought out policy should look for the benefits and address the possible problems as well. Frankly, this could be an "added" service or differentiator for the facility, they should seriously consider your request.
If I really wanted it, I would try to sell them on the concept as a business case and offer to be the first test case.
I'd be impressed if the facility had yet got round to devising a formal policy on these devices. But you're still entitled to ask them to give their reasons for depriving your mother of a means of communication that you have approved.
You could end up being an interesting test case - I will watch this space! Good luck with it, and a big shout-out to your mother for being such a clever techie lady :)
There's another issue beyond surveillance and it is invasion of privacy. "Just showing" up could result in some compromising situations for your mother, such as if she's getting dressed, or in a state of undress. While she's your mother, it still might make her feel uncomfortable.
And I imagine the staff wouldn't appreciate the intrusion either.
SouthHaven, have you read the Admission Agreement? I'm guessing the issue of surveillance or some form of it is included in the restrictions.
If there is such a provision, and you signed the Agreement, the facility could easily argue that you "knew or should have known" (standard legal language) that these types of devices are prohibited.
I don't see theft or breakage as being an issue. I'm certainly not concerned about either in this close-in situation on a memory unit and the unit itself is very robust.
I didn't see the rules, but I don't doubt that they exist. The reason that they gave was that it might be a HIPAA violation. I assured them that I would sign a statement approving this, since I have legal authority over my mother.
I have not actually heard a decision yet, but I'm guessing this type of situation is going to get a lot bigger and that it won't go away. Personally, I have no use for devices like this except in this situation. I liken it to police wearing body cameras. I can imagine that if I were a cop, I would not want to wear them, but I understand why they are becoming ubiquitous. Cameras are literally everywhere now, especially if you consider smart phone proliferation.
I wonder if telephones were considered as a type of privacy invasion when they started to become popular. I bet there were a lot of people who probably said no-way initially...