Otiom is the result of one of Denmark’s largest public-private innovation collaborations

One summer day, the unthinkable happened. Peter left his nursing home without the caregivers’ knowledge. When they realised that Peter was gone, the caregiver ran out to look for him. Peter had his GPS on him, but when the caregivers and volunteers figured out how to search for it, it turned out that it had run out of power. The GPS was therefore useless in finding Peter. All too often, relatives and caregivers end up in situations like Peter’s: Persons with dementia get lost even though they have a GPS transmitter on them. This is what led to the collaboration between the Danish Age Associations, several municipalities, universities, a number of persons diagnosed with dementia and their relatives. We wanted to develop the next generation in dementia safety devices for the home and for nursing care. Our hope was to create a solution that would make it possible for people like Peter to move about freely without worry that he might get lost – on his part or on the part of his relatives. In other words: more freedom and less fear and incapacity.