Australia-first trial of CCTV in aged care homes kicks off in South Australia

Good news for older Australians living in residential care and their families.

A new 12-month trial is now underway at two SA Health operated pilot sites – Northgate House and Mount Pleasant Aged Care in the Adelaide Hills – as part of a plan to strengthen safeguards and enhance the safety and wellbeing of residents.

The trial is the result of a $785,000 co-investment from the Commonwealth and State Governments.

How will the trial work?

Recording devices will be placed in residents’ bedrooms and common areas, which are programmed to identify falls, calls for help, or unusual movements, and signal the need for a rapid response.

Any movement or sounds trigger an alert which is sent to operators at an independent monitoring centre, who then immediately alert nursing staff to respond.

Footage of an incident, including the minutes before and afterwards, is also kept and securely stored onsite for review by authorised personnel.

All residents can choose whether to have their bedroom recording devices activated or not and can opt-in or out of participating at any time.

The trial should provide the Government and aged care providers with more information about whether this technology can improve quality of care – and if it could be rolled out on a larger scale.

We will keep you posted on the outcome.