About Protect FL Seniors
Our Mission
Protect FL Seniors is a movement aimed at getting a law enacted within the State of Florida that gives a patient and their designated health care surrogate the UNDENIABLE RIGHT to install a camera within his or her nursing home or long term health care facility room.
MOST IMPORTANTLY, many people do not know that there is NO LAW for or against installing a camera in your loved one's private room! Put one up! Put it up NOW! You need to put up signage outside the room and notify the business that you are installing a camera. Yet, be prepared to be told to take it down-- but don't!
Why This Mission?
Sarasota Herald Tribune 1//6/2024
WWSB ABC 7 Cameras Now! Woman pushes for cameras to advocate against elder abuse. published 1/6/2024
ABC7 Suncoast View 1.30.24
WWSB ABC7 Suncoast View Jan 30. 2024
ABC7 Jordon Litwiller Reporting
WWSB ABC7 Morning News 05:30 1/31/2024
Facts and personal stories by Stephanie and Maryellen
The state of Florida has the second highest number of senior citizens in the nation (According to the National Library of Medicine (doi:10.1002/alz.12638), an estimated 6.5 million Americans age 65 and older are living with Alzheimer's dementia [as of 2022]. Additionally, according to a 2020 "House of Representatives Staff Analysis by the Elder Abuse Fatality Review Teams, by 2030, the state of Florida will have up to 25% of its population requiring support to nurture individuals through the end-of-life.
Goal. Our goal is to have a Florida State law enacted in 2025 that gives a patient and their health care surrogate (HCS) the undeniable right to place a camera in their nursing home or long term care room. The provision in the law will demand that 1) signage is placed in obvious locations, 2) authorized signatures are submitted by the patient, HCS, and roommate if there is one has been submitted to the facility. There are many details not discussed here but that will be addressed.
Why. With the high predicted percentage of elderly living in the state of Florida, we need to prepare now for the overwhelming numbers of patients who will one day need 24/7 care outside of their personal family home.
Evidence for why. I am Stephanie. My personal story is that my mother suffered in the late stages of dementia and my father and I needed more help to keep her safe. We had her admitted to a facility for what we determined would be only a temporary situation. When I got her home only 23 days later, there were signs of sexual assault. Because she was in "Covid quarantine," no one was allowed to see her for almost three weeks. Additionally, she was in an isolated area away from other patients. This leaves only employees who could have done this to her body (CA2023-528). Prior to her arrival, I pleaded three times to be allowed to install a camera to which I was repeatedly denied.
Similarly, Maryellen's husband who suffers from advanced Parkinson's with Dementia was also placed in a nursing home. To help her husband stay calm, she placed an Amazon Echo device in his room to play music for him. It was confiscated by the facility and she was denied the right to leave it in his private room.
One can surely see that the control of these devices is in place to protect the business-- not the patient!
Conclusion. We hope that cameras will record more acts-of-kindness than incidences of abuse, but the few incidences of abuse need to be caught and stopped! Patients need to be protected just like children and animals because they cannot self-advocate.
How can you help? Please write your local senator, representative, and congress men or women, share this on social media, and make this advocacy go viral! We need a crowd of people to voice their opinions about protecting the patient as well as the business. Florida's aging population needs help, but we cannot continue to protect the business at the cost of a patient's wellbeing!
Please help us help you! After all, one day you may need to be protected in a nursing home.
References
- https://elderaffairs.org/wp-content/uploads/FINAL-Florida-State-Plan-on-Aging-2022-2025-10182021.pdf
- National Library of Medicine doi:doi:10.1002/alz.12638
File coming soon.
How can you help?
Make a difference in the lives of those with brain diseases by:
1) contacting your local senators and representatives and tell them you want the undeniable right to install a camera in your apartment home.
2) participate in quiet, calm picketing. Please email us for locations and times.
Frequently Asked Questions
How can I help?
Email your legislators
Who is my Senator?
What is the best email address:
Who is my Representative?
https://www.myfloridahouse.gov/findyourrepresentative
What is their email address?