View source for Key Bill of Rights Provisions for Residential Care

==Rights to Health, Safety and Dignity==

2. An adult person in care has the right to the protection and promotion of his or her health, safety and dignity, including a right to all of the following:

:(a) to be treated in a manner, and to live in an environment, that promotes his or her health, safety and dignity;  
:(b) to be protected from abuse and neglect; 
:(c) to have his or her lifestyle and choices respected and supported, and to pursue social, cultural, religious, spiritual and other interests; 
:(d) to have his or her personal privacy respected, including in relation to his or her records, bedroom, belongings and storage spaces; 
:(e) to receive visitors and to communicate with visitors in private
:(f) to keep and display personal possessions, pictures and furnishings in his or her bedroom.  

Section 2 identifies how the resident is to be treated.  The key aim of the section focuses on the care facility’s role to promote each resident’s dignity, health, and safety, as well as safeguard residents if these rights or freedoms are being infringed.  These three (dignity, health, and safety) are inter-related concepts that often work together. Several types of specific rights are identified in this part including:  autonomy rights and non- discrimination; self expression and recognition of personhood and life history; rights to communication and association; freedom from abuse or neglect, as well as protection from these harms.

There are many areas of care where dignity is involved. One is continence care (assistance going to the bathroom). The British Columbia Ombudsperson noted:

:''“As with eating, going to the bathroom is one of the most basic of personal needs. Failing to respond to this need in a timely way offends human dignity. To ensure fair treatment, a specific standard should be established that balances the needs of seniors, the expectations of families and the capacities of facility operators.”'' ([[{{PAGENAME}}#References|2]])

A second area key to promoting dignity in residential care is the use of physical, chemical or environmental restraints. As the British Columbia Ombudsperson has noted:

:''“Regardless of the circumstances or the method used, restraining someone reduces that person’s individual liberty and affects his or her dignity.”''([[{{PAGENAME}}#References|3]])

===Privacy===

Section 2 acknowledges and protects personal privacy is several contexts (privacy when receiving care, privacy in communication, privacy in physical space and environment, and privacy of personal information and records). “Privacy” in residential care has several related meanings, including the right to be treated in a dignified manner when receiving care, irrespective of whether a person seems to be mentally aware, and the right to control over certain aspects of one’s life (e.g. meals, visitors, mail, information, records). In other contexts, privacy can mean the right be left alone (e.g. to choose to not participate).

In section 2, safety is viewed as one important consideration but it is not the only consideration. Personal privacy needs to be respected in all aspects of the residents’ lives. Common examples of respecting privacy in residential care include when staff and others:

* provide personal or health care (e.g.,  putting in dentures) in private, not in public areas of the facility
* knock  before entering the resident’s room, and waiting for the resident to answer
* ask permission before cleaning a resident’s room or anything else that belongs to the resident, or touch a resident’s personal belongings. 

Respecting privacy in residential care is often shown by what people do not do. That includes, for example, when staff:
  
* do not use the resident’s possessions (e.g. wheelchair or walker) for someone else without their permission,
* do not share personal and confidential information about the resident without consent, or
* do not talk with each other unnecessarily about residents’ lives. 

Issues about limits on personal privacy issues can come when care facilities ban smoking or alcohol consumption by residents.  Sometimes an operator may try to enforce the policy by having the staff search a resident’s room under pretext of “cleaning”, and seize “contraband” possessions without permission.In some cases, family members’ possessions might be searched. Whether these are reasonable limits will depend on the particular circumstances, the actions taken and the specific risks involved.

Physical privacy is often an issue for residents in the private hospitals which tend to have double and quadruple occupancy rooms for residents. Privacy is becoming an increasingly important issue in residential care because of developing technologies that allow for continuous monitoring of a person, falls detection, as well as video surveillance by family or the operator.