The Difficult Balance between Ensuring the Right of Nursing Home Residents to Communication and Their Safety

Matteo Bolcato, Marco Trabucco Aurilio, Giulio Di Mizio, Andrea Piccioni, Alessandro Feola, Alessandro Bonsignore, Camilla Tettamanti, Rosagemma Ciliberti, Daniele Rodriguez and Anna Aprile
Additional contact information
Matteo Bolcato: Legal Medicine, Department of Molecular Medicine, University of Padua, via G. Falloppio 50, 35121 Padua, Italy
Marco Trabucco Aurilio: Department of Medicine and Health Sciences “V. Tiberio,” University of Molise, 86100 Campobasso, Italy
Giulio Di Mizio: Forensic Medicine, Department of Law, “Magna Graecia” University of Catanzaro, 88100 Catanzaro, Italy
Andrea Piccioni: Department of Emergency Medicine, Gemelli, IRCCS (Scientific Institute for Hospitalization and Treatment), Catholic University of Rome-Teaching Hospital Foundation A, 00168 Rome, Italy
Alessandro Feola: Department of Experimental Medicine, University of Campania “Luigi Vanvitelli”, via Luciano Armanni 5, 80138 Naples, Italy
Alessandro Bonsignore: Department of Health Sciences, Section of Legal and Forensic Medicine, University of Genova, 16126 Genova, Italy
Camilla Tettamanti: Department of Health Sciences, Section of Legal and Forensic Medicine, University of Genova, 16126 Genova, Italy
Rosagemma Ciliberti: Department of Health Sciences, Section of History of Medicine and Bioethics, University of Genova, 16126 Genova, Italy
Daniele Rodriguez: Legal Medicine, Department of Molecular Medicine, University of Padua, via G. Falloppio 50, 35121 Padua, Italy
Anna Aprile: Legal Medicine, Department of Molecular Medicine, University of Padua, via G. Falloppio 50, 35121 Padua, Italy

IJERPH, 2021, vol. 18, issue 5, 1-11

Abstract: The COVID-19 epidemic has had a profound impact on healthcare systems worldwide. The number of infections in nursing homes for the elderly particularly is significantly high, with a high mortality rate as a result. In order to contain infection risks for both residents and employees of such facilities, the Italian government passed emergency legislation during the initial stages of the pandemic to restrict outside visitor access. On 30 November 2020, the Italian President of the Council of Ministers issued a new decree recognizing the social and emotional value of visits to patients from family and friends. In addition, it indicated prevention measures for the purposes of containing the infection risk within nursing homes for the elderly. This article comments on these new legislative provisions from the medicolegal perspective, providing indications that can be used in clinical practice.

Keywords: COVID-19 pandemic; nursing homes; health workers; clinical risk management; patient safety; ethics (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (6)

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