Dutch company Qwiek’s specific aim is to develop products and services that provide care-givers in experience-oriented care with tools to make their job more effective, more rewarding, easier and more fun. The company developed an emotion-oriented care product for the dementia care-market that provides residents of nursing and elderly homes with an audio-visual experience in their own familiar environment.
The company is looking to work with non-profit healthcare related centres of expertise, associations and knowledge centres that engage in the dissemination and implementation of good practices in the field of dementia-care. By cooperating with these partners and sharing each other’s expertise and insights, the company hopes to learn and get a better understanding of the specific characteristics of dementia-care in the targeted countries. That way the company hopes to improve the dementia-care in the targeted countries as they already do in the Netherlands.
A relevant partner for this specific tool was found with support of the EEN network, Bayern Innovativ in Nuremberg Martina Schuhmacher. She established the contact to the PPZ/NürnbergStift, a project of the innovation network health they have been working with for more than 6 years. The PPZ was set up in order to make the implementation of novel products and technologies in the care field more experienceable and introduce the innovations into the practical daily routine. By doing so they have the aim to facilitate the daily work in the care home and even have more time for the elderly or patients. Marlene Klemm, the head of the project at the PPZ, was informed about this tool as good opportunity to integrate into the daily routine of the elderly care home.
At the end of 2022, the mobile projector Qwiek.up was in use in the four NürnbergStift facilities, Sebastianspital, August-Meier-Heim as well as the Platnersberg and St. Johannis senior living complexes, for a two-week test phase. In the first test run, the care professionals were enthusiastic!
After the test phases described above, the feedback from the four inpatient long-term care facilities was positive, so PPZ/Nuremberg are now moving into a second test phase.
At the end of January 2023, Ms. Kaupp from the company Qwiek.up handed two more devices to PPZ/Nuremberg. These are now in use for a second test phase in the facilities in St. Johannis and Platnersberg. During a visit at the PPZ Nuernberg by the innovation network health and the EEN of Bayern Innovativ several medical products were shown and explained, especially the Qwiek mobile projector. The tool is really easy to handle, it is movable and the operating panel is easy to use. It can be equipped with various USB-sticks even created by your own. As this projector was highly evaluated by the elderly people and patients of the PPZ it now belongs to the equipment of the PPZ and is in constant use in the care home. The care and old people clearly recognised a positive effect on the people when using this projector and following the pictures thrown to the ceiling or wall, which ends in becoming more calm, satisfied and happy and losing more and more anxiety. This instrument has now conquered many other hospitals, care homes and institutions for handicapped people within Germany. One further example is the Clemenshospital in Münster.
Through this collaboration, Qwiek has found a partner in the Bayern region with whom they can exchange expertise and insights to further validate their product and make it suitable for the local German market. This cooperation is about real results that brings advantages for both partners. They are also looking to expand their cooperation in the near future. Bearing in mind that the first impetus for this collaboration was given in 2019. Corona then ensured that this process took longer. Nevertheless, a collaboration emerged in 2022 and the partnership continues to grow.
Commercial manager Chris Rameckers:PPZ is an institution with stature. If they test a product then you immediately gain prestige in the region. This gives you extra exposure, which makes it easier to get into other healthcare institutions. PPZ also actively gives recommendations to other institutions through a kind of brochure. If you are included in this, doors open more easily.
The Dutch EEN partners involved are the chamber of commerce and later on LIOF, the regional development agency of the province Limburg.
