Isolating Wandering Residents in Care and Group Homes

An article by Dr Kathy Liddell and several interdisciplinary co-authors has been accepted for publication in the International Journal of Law and Psychiatry: 'Isolating residents including wandering residents in care and group homes: Medical ethics and English law in the context of Covid-19'

The article addresses three central questions:

  1. In what circumstances is it lawful to isolate residents of social care homes to prevent transmission of Covid-19, and in particular where the resident has a strong compulsion to walk and will not, or cannot, remain still and isolated?
  2. What types of strategies are lawful to curtail walking and achieve isolation and social distancing?
  3. Is law reform required to ensure any action to restrict freedom is lawful and not excessive?

These questions emerged during the 'first wave' of the Covid-19 pandemic, and remain relevant today.

  • Access the publication abstract (in full) here
  • Access an executive summary of the publication here
  • Access the pre-publication version of the paper here
  • The published version of paper will be available in due course