| No human rights for elderly in care homes
Private care homes which look after elderly and vulnerable people on behalf of local authorities are not covered by human rights laws, the House of Lords ruled today. Five Law Lords, by a 3-2 majority, rejected argument that a private home is exercising a public function when it cares for people referred to it by a council, and is therefore bound by the Human Rights Act.
The decision, which could affect up to 300,000 residents throughout the country, came in the case of an 83-year-old Alzheimer's patient whose lawyers argued that her threatened eviction from a private home would violate her right to family life. Six months ago, the Court of Appeal rejected the argument, saying it was bound by previous rulings that a private care home could not be classified as a public body and therefore was not covered by the Act.
New high-tech caregiving devices aim to help Canadians care for ...
TORONTO (CP) - They aren't being regarded as a replacement for human caregivers yet, but researchers hope a number of high-tech devices with the ability to speak, instruct, and even tell a joke will become an invaluable tool in helping Canadian caregivers look after their aging family members. "There is a real need for technology that can assist in caring for others," said William D'Souza, the Ontario-based creator of Mon Ami, an assisted living device which can operate anything electronic in a home. It can also be programmed to give reminders about medication and appointments, read books and play music. "We looked everywhere and could find nothing that was comprehensively able to assist people in their day to day tasks, " said D'Souza, who was displaying the multilingual device at a caregiving, disability, aging and technology conference in Toronto.
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