Each year, countless numbers of elderly nursing home patients suffer from abuse at the hands of the professionals who should be taking care of them. Unfortunately, too many of these cases go unreported because of the lack of substantial evidence to back up the claims.

However, according to an article on the St. Louis Post-Dispatch website, a new proposal has the power to change all of that.

The proposal puts the power back into the hands of the patients and their family members by allowing them the ability to install video cameras or other types of recording devices in patients’ rooms. As the Baby Boomer generation ages, it’s become apparent that stricter monitoring regulations have become a necessity. These cameras provide family members and officials with the information they need to protect the well-being of the aging population in Illinois.

This type of monitoring is already being used in five other states with great success. Lawmakers feel they have an increasingly important duty to protect the elderly, which should put many families at ease.

It is difficult to place a family into a nursing facility, but when you have to make that decision, you have every right to believe he or she will be properly cared for. Perhaps you have had a family member become a victim of nursing home abuse. If so, it’s important to contact a St. Louis personal injury attorney right away.