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, Anna Aprile
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.