Many nursing home residents have faced extreme isolation, depression and despair as all visual contact with family and friends was cut off during COVID.

After a six-month health care journey, my friend passed in April. She never really knew how frustrated her family and friends were on the outside without the ability to look in on her.

Cameras in patient rooms should be mandated in COVID times and beyond. In a culture that promotes cameras in dog kennels, daycare, etc., why not do the same for our most vulnerable population? The naysayers tout “privacy” and the pushback from for-profit nursing homes and unions. These are not insurmountable obstacles. If federal/state monies are received by a nursing home, cameras should be a prerequisite component of their patient safety regimen. And, for those seeking to place a loved one in a nursing home, the absence of cameras should be a deal breaker.

The Connecticut House voted in April to approve cameras in nursing home rooms. I encourage the Senate to act humanely and do the same.

Claudia Gauches

Niantic