Ethical and Legal Aspects of an AAL System Supporting Night Care in Residential Care

摘要

1 Introduction Night care in residential care facilities is often provided by few staff members and it poses many challenges. While the safety and well-being of residents in the night is obviously a central need, the ways of ensuring this are often burdensome for both staff and residents. A study by Kerr et al. [13] found many deficiencies in the work situation of night staff in care homes. One of the problems identified was "over-checking", i.e., the unnecessarily frequent visiting in the residents' rooms at night [13]. For example, in one of the homes studied, the checks took place-following an incident elsewhere-as frequently as every hour. It was found that "routine, indiscriminate over-checking led to needless disturbance of residents." The perspective of the residents revealed that the night-time practices had an impact on their well-being. While some considered checking reassuring, others found it "unnecessary, intrusive and a cause of fright and agitation (Ibid.)." Such frequent checks were also found disturbing by the night staff although their decision to over-check can be understood. Health and social care professionals tend to be very much concerned about protecting all their patients and residents from harm and may be influenced by concerns about litigation [21].