'Granny cams' keep caregivers in loop

CATHLEEN F. CROWLEY

COLONIE -- You can watch live video of your kids at day care and your dog at the kennel, and now you can go online to see what grandma is doing.

The Colonie Senior Service Centers introduced a video system that allows caregivers to use the Internet to see their loved ones at the center's adult day care program. Leaders at the center believe they are the first in the area to offer the service for seniors.

Anne Decker of Albany said she doesn't worry about the care her husband receives at the program. "I don't think they are beating Joe," she said, but she likes the new camera system. Her husband, Joe Decker, suffers from Alzheimer's disease and attends Colonie day care regularly to give Decker a break.

Decker said she uses the time to unload the dishwasher, do some chores or grab coffee with friends.

Decker said she welcomes the video system to check in on her husband. Watching the workers interact with him could give her ideas for communicating with him, she said. The other day, she asked her husband to take out the trash and he put the garbage in the back of their car.

She said her four sons will be able to log into the video.

"I can use it for my computer-literate kids and spread some guilt," she quipped. "Here's your dad, now come and see him."

"Granny cams," as the video systems have been called, were hotly contested about four years ago. Several states, including Texas and New Mexico, passed legislation allowing families to set up cameras in nursing home rooms.

The nursing home industry has fought the initiative, saying it is hard enough to attract workers without the threat of constant video surveillance. The industry also raised questions about the privacy of the senior citizens on the video.

"Personally, I don't think I'd like a camera on me 24 hours a day," said Daniel Curran, spokesman for the New York Association of Homes & Services for the Aging.

The cameras at the Colonie program are mounted on the ceilings of three activity rooms used by the adult day care program. About 70 senior citizens attend the $35-a-day program at three different sites.

The families all have signed documents giving the center permission to take video, said Edward Neary, executive director of Colonie Senior Service Centers. Family members will be issued a unique password to access the live video over the Internet.

The video images are slightly choppy and have a fish-eye effect because of the wide-angle lens, but they are clear enough to identify people and see what they are doing. A $9,740 grant from Verizon helped pay for the system.

Neary said he hopes the video will give families peace of mind and alleviate the "caregiver guilt" that some people feel when leaving a loved one in a day care program.

Decker said the day care program gives her a chance to recharge and continue caring for her husband at home.

"His core, his personality, his blue eyes, his charm are still there for me to love," she said.

And now, they are caught on camera, too.

Cathleen F. Crowley can be reached at 454-5348 or by e-mail at ccrowley@timesunion.com.