Right to private and family life

This right is very broad in scope and covers many different situations which relate to the rights of older people.

Article 8 relates to the following main interests:

• Privacy – this is defined broadly and relates to all aspects of privacy both in and outside of an individual’s private home

• Family life – this covers all close and personal ties of a family kind - not only those of a blood or formalised nature

• Physical, psychological and moral well-being – this covers the right to wellbeing through retaining autonomy, choice and dignity. It requires that there is access to information and participation in decisions that affect an individual’s life

• Home – this is not about a right to a house but rather a right to respect for the home life of an individual

• Correspondence – this covers all forms of communication with others such as phone calls, letters, emails etc

When could this right be relevant?

• Involving people in decisions made about their treatment and care

• Respecting people’s right to privacy in their own home, in a care home, in a hospital setting or elsewhere in the community

• Remaining with a partner either at home or in a care setting

• Maintaining socialisation and recreational activities and / or support to access such activities

• Maintaining personal relationships with family members and others

• Use of personal information

• Poor quality of care not amounting to inhuman or degrading treatment

• Consent to medical treatment and forms of restraint

• Effects of care home closures.