The Connecticut Legislature is poised to pass a bill giving long-term care residents the right to treat their living spaces as their own home and allowing use of all forms of virtual communication, including electronic monitoring.
Senate Bill 975, introduced by Sens. Kevin Kelly (R-Strateford) and Paul Formica (R-East Lye) adds to the state’s nursing home patient bill of rights and extends those rights to residents of managed residential facilities, including assisted living facilities.
The expansion would allow residents to use all forms of virtual communication, including in-room video technology to communicate privately with loved ones and electronic monitoring. Facilities also would be required to provide free internet to residents at no charge.
Both LeadingAge Connecticut and the Connecticut Association of Health Care Facilities / Connecticut Center for Assisted Living collaborated and participated in the development of the proposal.
LeadingAge Connecticut President Mag Morelli and CAHCF / CCAL President and CEO Matt Barrett said the bill now includes a framework for the use of “fast developing technologies” for virtual visitation and monitoring. The proposed legislation, they said, addresses “critically important issues” such as notice to the long-term care community of the use of such equipment, as well as an “assurance of self-determination, privacy and dignity” for all residents.
Christopher Carter, president of the Connecticut Assisted Living Association, said the bill addresses resident privacy and infrastructure requirements and was an outgrowth of the state legislative Nursing Home and Assisted Living Oversight Working Group. The working group was formed to make recommendations on proposed legislation to address lessons learned from a Mathematica Policy Research final report on the state’s COVID-19 response. CALA was not involved in drafting the legislation.
