Ensuring Respect for Human Rights in Locked-Down Care Homes

居民护理设施一直处于新冠肺炎大流行的震中，感染率和死亡率都很高。作为回应，许多疗养院被长时间“封锁”，扩大了对居民和希望探望养老院的人的自由的限制。即使更广泛的社会从封锁中走出来，这些限制仍在养老院环境中继续存在。如果/当限制最终取消时，很可能会在任何报告有新感染的疗养院重新实施限制。该项目的目的是确定如何最好地确保被封锁疗养院居民的人权在大流行期间和可能随之而来的“新常态”中得到保护。该项目侧重于疫情期间疗养院常见的三种做法：全面限制居民及其来访者的行动；全面使用“请勿尝试心肺复苏”(DNACPR)命令；决定限制将身体不适的患者转移到急诊医院设施。该项目解决了两个主要问题。1)在公共卫生紧急情况下，(除其他外)生命权、自由权和不受歧视的人权应如何解释和适用于这三种做法？2)如何最好地调整现有的角色，如最佳利益评估员(偏见)和独立精神能力倡导者(IMCAS)，以帮助确保尊重在被封锁的养老院生活和死亡的居民的人权？

Residential care facilities have been at the epicentre of the COVID-19 pandemic, with high rates of infection and high mortality rates. In response, many care homes have been 'locked-down' for extended periods, with expanded restrictions on the liberty both of residents and of those who wish to visit them. Even as the broader society emerges from lockdown, these restrictions continue in care home settings. If/when the restrictions are finally lifted, they are likely to be re-imposed in any care home where a new infection is reported. The aim of this project is to determine how best to ensure that the human rights of residents of locked-down care homes are protected, both during the pandemic itself and in the 'new normal' that is likely to follow. The project focuses on three practices that have been common in care homes during the pandemic: the use of blanket restrictions on the movement of residents and their visitors; the blanket use of "Do Not Attempt Cardio-Pulmonary Resuscitation" (DNACPR) orders; decisions to restrict transfer of unwell patients to acute-care hospital facilities. The project addresses two main questions. 1) How should the human rights to (inter alia) life, liberty, and non-discrimination be interpreted and applied to these three practices in the context of a public health emergency?2) How can existing roles such as best-interests assessors (BIAs) and independent mental capacity advocates (IMCAs) best be adapted to help ensure respect for the human rights of residents who are living and dying in locked-down care homes?