ELECTRONIC tagging of wandering dementia sufferers could set a dangerous precedent and should be considered only as a last resort, civil libertarians say.
June 02, 2008 02:30pm
Article from: AAP
The Federal Government is considering using electronic monitoring devices, implanted in wrist watches or ankle bracelets, to keep track of Alzheimer's and dementia sufferers.
Liberty Victoria says the tags, which would also contain a symbol to identify people with dementia, were a threat to basic human rights.
"I think a proposal like that would need to be dealt with a great deal of caution," Liberty Victoria spokesman Michael Pearce said.
"I think it's very important in the treatment of people suffering from Alzheimer's that they be treated with dignity and respect and issues such as this would tend to detract from the dignity and respect from which they are entitled."
Mr Pearce said the devices should only be allowed in exceptional cases, with family consent, if the safety and wellbeing of the patient was at risk.
But the move should not open the floodgates to "Big Brother-style" monitoring of other people such as juvenile offenders, he said.
"Any form of social monitoring ... by a governmental authority naturally raises a civil liberties concern and the position we would be putting is that it can only be justified in very exceptional cases.
"There's obviously a slippery slope concern that once you introduce it in that area then it can be more easily applied in other areas and the precedent can be cited."
Alzheimer's Australia said tagging was not a fix-all solution and consent must be obtained.
"We think the technology is one option ... we wouldn't want people to think that technology is the one and only solution," Alzheimer's Australia executive director Glenn Rees said.
He said wandering was a major concern for the family and carers of dementia sufferers.
"It's a particularly big issue, it's probable that most people with dementia at one time or another will wander," he said.
The Federal Government is considering the new measures following several cases of elderly people wandering away from carers and dying.
Under the plan, nursing homes would be legally bound to report any case of missing residents, particularly those with dementia.
The monitoring devices would be fitted only with the consent of the patient and/or their family.
SOURCE: NewsAU
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