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Safety vs. Privacy: Monitoring elderly people at risk with technology

There is no shortage of gadgets to monitor a person from a GPS on a shoe, to a bracelet, to cameras and alarms. Retirement homes are turning to these new technologies to help keep track of the confused and violent residents. And that's making some elderly people nervous....
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The Current27:30Safety vs. Privacy: Monitoring elderly people at risk with technology - Jan 27, 2014
There is no shortage of gadgets to monitor a person from a GPS on a shoe, to a bracelet, to cameras and alarms. Retirement homes are turning to these new technologies to help keep track of the confused and violent residents. And that's making some elderly people nervous.

Retirement homes can be liberating for many elderly Canadians who benefit from having someone to keep an eye on them . But new technologies have some residents worried they're being observed.


Just last year, five seniors in Canadian long term care homes were killed by fellow residents. It is estimated that there are up to 10,000 incidents of patient on patient violence each year in elder care homes. Some kind of dementia is often involved. It's no one's idea of golden years.

As Canadians age, these safety issues will be even more critical. About 15% of seniors suffer from dementia... that's 750,000 Canadians.and by 2031 that number is expected to rise to 1.4 million people.


Jack Shippobotham was a relatively new arrival at the Overlander Care Home in Kamloops when he was killed by another resident last summer.

  • Moneca Jantzen is Mr. Shippobotham's daughter. She was in Kamloops.

For more on how to protect Canadian seniors, we assembled a panel of experts:



  • Don MacAllister is a Vice President for Healthcare at Paladin Security. Forty percent of his company's business is providing security solutions to healthcare providers across Canada. He was in Vancouver.

  • Dr. Andrea Moser is a family doctor with a specialization in senior healthcare. She makes house calls and is the Associate Director at Apotex Nursing Home which is part of the Baycrest Centre. And she is the President of the Ontario Long Term Care Physicians group. Dr. Andrea Moser was in Toronto.


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This segment was produced by The Current's Sujata Berry.

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