Dementia Support Line
Can I install CCTV at home to keep an eye on my loved one living with dementia?
CCTV can be an effective form of assistive technology. However, there are ethical and legal issues around using security cameras to keep an eye on someone with dementia that must be taken into account.
Families, who worry about leaving a person with dementia alone, often ask us if they can install CCTV cameras at home. Loved ones may want to check on a relative when they are not there, but is this ok?
Like so much in dementia, everyone is different, and each person's situation should be considered individually. But there are some clear legal and ethical issues to think about.
We can use assistive technology as a way of enabling someone to remain independent. It can also allow people to be safer in their own home for longer.
Yet this does not automatically justify use of CCTV. So, it's worth asking a few questions when thinking about home security cameras.
Can a person with dementia consent to CCTV?
Being able to decide to have CCTV or not is an example of having the 'mental capacity’ to make a particular decision.
The person needs to understand what is being proposed, the practicalities, weigh up the pros and cons, and communicate a decision. All this is covered in the Mental Capacity Act 2005.
If the person can make this decision themselves then it is theirs to make and must be respected - even if the family disagree.
If the person lacks capacity to make this decision for themselves then the decision can be made for them. This can be done by an attorney or deputy, a professional such as a social worker, and in some circumstances, family.
But the decision that's made must be in the person’s 'best interests'. It must also have regard to the 'least restrictive' option. The terms 'best interests' and 'least restrictive' are from the Act and we explain them below.
What if the person with dementia cannot consent to CCTV?
In making a ‘best interests’ decision for someone who lacks capacity, the following should be considered:
- Whether the person will be able to make the decision in the future. (If they have good and bad days, can the decision wait until a time they can make the decision themselves?).
- The person’s own views – it’s important to note that, even if someone cannot make a decision, they may still have an opinion.
- The person’s past and present preferences.
- Whether all appropriate friends, family and professionals have been consulted.
- Whether all the relevant circumstances have been taken into account.
A decision also needs to have regard to the 'least restrictive' option. There needs to be discussion as to what other options are available and if these are more suitable.
For example, other forms of assistive technology may be suitable, including pressure pads. These can also monitor when a person leaves or enters the home and can be less restrictive than filming someone.
If it is decided that there isn’t a less restrictive option, or it wouldn’t work, then the least restrictive way of using the camera must be considered. For example, placing cameras only where needed.
Cameras should not be placed where someone goes to the toilet, washes, or dresses. If cameras are placed in these areas, social services could also become interested as this may raise safeguarding and/or human rights issues.
Does CCTV breach the person with dementia’s human rights?
Finally, there are wider legal issues that we must acknowledge. The use of cameras in this way does go against someone’s human rights. This is because we all have a right to privacy and dignity.
Where absolutely needed, in someone’s best interests, this right can be infringed upon, but it needs to be carefully considered.
Families who are unsure should consult with social services before using CCTV.
If security cameras are being provided by a specialist company for care purposes, then they should also help with these considerations.
If the cameras are recording and storing the information, then it is important to think about:
- how this data is stored
- who will view it.
Any recordings will be very personal to the person and so should not be widely shared. If the recordings do highlight abuse or neglect, then this should be shared with social services.
Any decision made for someone needs to be in their best interests. It must also have regard to the least restrictive option.
Legally, CCTV does infringe upon a person’s right to privacy and dignity. This means the decision needs careful consideration. It may also need consultation with a professional such as a social worker.
Like so much else in dementia, it needs to be an individual decision taking into account a range of factors.
This article was first published on 27 October 2016 and most recently updated on 29 January 2024.
Talk to others facing similar challenges
You can discuss issues around security cameras, and many more topics, with others on our online chat forum: Talking Point.
Sheila
saysSo do we need social services permission? To install cctv in our own mums flat?
Sunil Kumar
saysTotally agree with the post. CCTV cameras are very important. It will also help in avoiding the crime. We are safety signs dealers which also make cctv sign stickers. Thanks for the wonderful post.
Susan
saysIs it legal to put cameras into flat for parent to spy on staff cleaning ect
Sophie T
saysFor those who are asking for an alternative, consider 'Just Checking'. This is similar to cameras but does not take actual video of the person - just shows movements on a graph therefore is less intrusive but also reassuring at the same time as you can see if person is moving around, i.e., going to the fridge, in bed when supposed to be etc.
Julie Rands
saysI would like to know more about pressure pads for my dad with dementia please
winston smith
saysI shake my head with despair when i read about the "offical view" is it infringes on the person with dementia human rights. Privacy and dignity overrides someones safety? CCTV is installed to safeguard the person being cared for, not as a "reality tv" show. I wish all these "concerned experts" would give the family better support not put obstacles in their way. For us its a last resort to keep the "nursing" home at bay.
My experience is the "experts" are more concerned in reading out the "party line" than understanding how it is for the relatives who do all the caring.
Give us examples of what can be bought and how to use it, not put people off with a page of project fear.
Reading this was a waste of time as it gave absolutley no practical help.
M jeffrey
saysHere here
Isla Pells
saysHi Winston, I installed a security camera called Netatmo Welcome. This has face recognition and motion detection. You need internet connection as I live 500 miles away from Mum. This has been invaluable as it alerts you when an unrecognised face enters the area. This is only in the lounge but it has stopped cold callers in their tracks as the alert allowed me to see who was in the room with Mum and therefore a phone call from me telling them Mum was a vulnerable adult soon made them leave. I also use the camera to check time-lines. You can look back the recordings of the day and check how she has been feeling as she may have gone back to bed. It is fairly expensive but I think well worth the money. You also need to make sure you have CCTV notifications on the outside of the house by law. I hope this helps and good luck.
Anna Kirby-Bailey
saysI absolutely agree with you
Alison
saysMy dad has just been diagnosed with vascular dementia, i just want to be able to check in on him and see he is ok as sometimes he doesnt put the phone back on the hook so if we can see him we know he is ok instead of having to drive 25 mins to check...alot of the people on here i think want same thing, didnt realise it was so hard to find something.
Josephine
saysI am struggling with the prospect of installing CCTV because I don't want to feel as if I'm spying on my mother. But the writer is correct. What about the human rights of the people doing the caring in order to avoid the nightmare of putting an adored but mentally declining parent into a care home? Doing that for my late father, although it was the least worst option, traumatised me and I desperately don't want to have to put Mum there. She's not ready for that yet, hopefully never, but she's becoming worse. I am determined to keep her in her home, with her two little dogs which are the most important things in her world. But HER 'independence' and 'human rights' impinge on those of a team of people pulling out the stops to care for her. I am already running two homes, running a team of private carers (not always easy either), visiting my mother 10 miles away and making at least two calls a day to oh-so-painstakingly, step by step, get her to let the dogs out, count them back in etc, and monitoring her outdoor security camera as she opens the door to anybody. She is pre-T2 diabetes and given total freedom would live on biscuits, crisps and desserts only, so we and the employed carers cook all her meals, give her her meds, sort out her dogs, do her shopping, her laundry, her personal hygiene, her weekly hairdo and additional enrichment time too, and we also lock the goodies away BUT ration them to her every day or she would end up with an issue which WE would then have to deal with - and the hospital is 30 miles away. Surely the human rights of those caring for such people and saving one huge bill for the country to-boot, must be considered? This must be taken into account when safety for a loved one with deteriorating cognition is so important.
Helen
saysI am a private live in carer. My client had a stroke, has mild dementia, and mobility issues, although is still able to make daily decisions. I would support the family/client's decision to install CCTV in every room, but NOT in the bathroom (unless solely used by the client) or in carer's bedroom. The carers have a right to privacy when using the toilet & showering (if they share bathroom with the client) and in their own bedroom. I would decline to work for a client that installed CCTV in the carer's bedroom and in the shared bathroom. Perhaps a solution is to give the carer a bedroom with an ensuite and put sensors on the carer's door (if concerned that carers spend too much time in their own bedroom!)
Shelley Smyth
saysYes you are so right in what you have said I would question that if that was me to careers bedroom and loo a no go simples
Julie Stanley
saysLisa
saysWe have recently installed it in my fathers bungalow and it is a godsend! He has dementia and has falls so in between the carers visits we can monitor him because he forgets he has a security alarm necklace. He is adamant he would rather die than ever go into a care home so we feel justified having CCTV in supporting him to remain in his own home.
Adele
saysWe are in the same position with my Grandmother. Could you please tell me which cameras you have used? It's heart breaking having to do this, but if it saves going to a nursing home.. I will do everything to protect her and respect her wishes.
I hope your father is well.
Thankyou
suzanne
saysour son has CCTV in his room and it is stored correctly only viewed if there os a concern about his care, recently we had a theft from the house and the cctv was not working so they got away with it now have safeguarding breathing down my neck as its considered against his rights but he consented to them being there and knows the implications of having them there
Sue
saysMy mum does not have dementia. But has recently fallen in her home and broke her arm. She was unable to move. And will not wear the security alarm necklace that would have linked her up to the local hospital. And in the state she was in' I am not convinced that she could have used it. I think a cctv camera would be a great way of making sure she's safe. Particularly as she usually sits in her place on the sofa..