WASHINGTON -- Sen. Chuck Grassley is evaluating the response he received from a Florida assisted living facility in response to his questions following criminal charges filed against an employee alleging she violated the privacy of two residents using Snapchat. The case is the latest example of exploitive videos or photos involving elder care facilities on Snapchat, Instagram and Facebook.
“This reported behavior is unacceptable and often criminal,” Grassley said. “Every nursing home and assisted living facility should be sure to enforce resident privacy and prevent exploitation on Snapchat, Facebook or Instagram. And the facilities need to ensure their social media policies clearly state that these activities are prohibited. These facilities enter into contracts and take patients’ money and taxpayer dollars to protect residents from harm. They, and their employees, ought to be held accountable for falling down on the job.”
Grassley has been battling humiliating social media posts involving nursing home or assisted living residents since last year. His efforts have led to several improvements, including a detailed memo from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services to nursing home safety inspectors explaining that social media exploitation is a prohibited form of abuse.
The response from the Bristol Court Assisted Living Facility in St. Petersburg to Grassley’s inquiry is available here. Grassley’s letter to the facility is available here.
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