Smoother everyday care at Kotiranta – Iiwari Care makes teamwork and getting help easier

Where is my colleague? What about the medication room key? Has a resident at risk of falling started moving around during the night? At Kotiranta care home, answers to these everyday questions can be found on a phone screen.

Palvelutalo Kotiranta, run by Enon Vanhusten tuki ry in Eno, Finland, has been using Iiwari Care since January 2026. Nurse in charge Minna Asikainen and office secretary Irma Laakkonen say the system has made many daily tasks easier and quicker.

Find your colleague on the map without making a phone call

Staff at Kotiranta work in pairs, with partners assigned each morning. With nurses’ names and locations visible on the app’s map, finding your partner is easy.

There is no longer a need to call a colleague just to ask where they are. A glance at the map is enough. Being able to see the location of the medication room key also saves time spent searching.

The benefits come from small, frequently repeated situations: information is easy to find, and work continues smoothly.

Clearer information helps staff work together

When someone responds to a call for additional assistance, other nurses can see it. Knowing that help is already on its way means not everyone needs to go to the same place.

An emergency assistance call, on the other hand, has a distinctive sound that clearly tells staff they need to respond quickly.

Helping residents is also easier because nurses do not have to acknowledge the alarm on their phone first. They can go straight to the resident. Nurses feel this also supports hand hygiene, as touching the phone does not have to be their first action.

Support for monitoring movement at night

During a night shift, staff can check the app to see whether a resident is moving around. They find this particularly useful when a resident is at risk of falling: between rounds, they can check whether a particular resident has started moving.

The residents’ wristbands also receive praise. According to the interviewees, they are more breathable than the wristbands used with the previous system. Not having to charge them makes everyday routines easier too.

Getting started involved learning and ideas for improvement

Installation at Kotiranta was quick and smooth. The installers worked discreetly and respectfully around the residents.

Staff welcomed the new system enthusiastically, although getting started also involved some nervousness and adjustment. Changing the tags, for example, had raised concerns beforehand but went well in the end. Residents practised using their wristbands.

Issues that arose during the initial rollout were resolved quickly, and the system’s operation settled down.

Accessible customer support earns praise

Iiwari’s customer support has been an important source of help for staff. Any nurse can get in touch about a problem they have noticed.

According to the interviewees, Iiwari has responded to messages within the same day and started investigating problems even when the cause was not immediately clear.

Staff had found the previous system difficult to use, with expertise concentrated in one main user. With Iiwari Care, a positive change has been that all staff find the system easy to use and know how to ask for help when needed.

Daily practices have evolved with experience

As experience has grown, Kotiranta has adjusted settings such as who receives alarms. This has helped tailor the system to the care home’s daily routines.

Asikainen and Laakkonen say the practical benefits became apparent quickly after the initial adjustment period. When work runs more smoothly, it also has a positive effect on staff morale.

At Kotiranta, the value of Iiwari Care is visible in many small things: finding a colleague, locating a key and sharing information about help arriving. Together, they make everyday care work smoother.

Based on an interview with nurse in charge Minna Asikainen and office secretary Irma Laakkonen on 3 November 2026.