Peace of Mind, Wherever They Go

For families living with dementia, one of the most common worries is what happens when a loved one leaves the house unexpectedly. It might be a walk to the corner shop that becomes confusing, or a moment of restlessness in the early evening. These moments are frightening for everyone involved — the person who finds themselves unsure of where they are, and the family member who discovers they are gone.

OurTurn approaches location safety with care and respect. This is not surveillance technology. It is a family safety tool that helps you know where your loved one is so you can respond calmly and quickly when they need you. The location features run quietly in the background on your loved one's device, using battery-efficient tracking that does not drain their phone.

Many families tell us that simply knowing they can check their loved one's location at any time — even if they rarely need to — removes a significant layer of daily anxiety. It is one less thing to worry about in a journey that already asks so much of caregivers.

OurTurn lets you define safe zones — familiar areas like home, a relative's house, or a favourite park — on an interactive map. When your loved one moves outside a safe zone, you receive an immediate alert on your phone and via email. The alert includes their current location on a map, so you can assess the situation quickly.

Safe zones are fully customisable. You set the centre point and the radius, and you can create as many as you need. Some families set a tight zone around the home and a wider zone around the neighbourhood. Others add zones for regular destinations like a community centre or church.

Alerts are designed to be informative without being alarmist. You see a clear notification with a map and the time, so you can decide whether to call, send a family member to help, or simply keep an eye on things. Every alert is logged in your dashboard history, giving you a record you can review later or share with other family members.

The Location tab in your caregiver dashboard shows a real-time map with your loved one's current position. You can see when their location was last updated, whether they are inside or outside a safe zone, and their recent movement history. The map is powered by Google Maps, so it is familiar, accurate, and easy to read.

The caregiver mobile app gives you the same live map in your pocket. Whether you are at work, running errands, or at home, you can open the app and see exactly where your loved one is. If you share caregiving with family members through the Family Circle, everyone with access can see the same location information.

Location data is handled with the same privacy standards we apply to everything in OurTurn. Data is encrypted in transit and at rest, retained only as long as needed, and automatically cleaned up after 30 days. Your loved one's location history is never shared with third parties or used for advertising.

We know that asking your loved one to carry a charged phone is already a challenge. That is why OurTurn uses battery-efficient location tracking that relies on significant location changes and geofencing rather than continuous GPS polling. This means the app barely touches the battery, so the phone lasts all day.

The location features run silently in the background. Your loved one does not need to interact with the app or even know that location sharing is active. There are no confusing pop-ups or prompts — just quiet, reliable tracking that gives you peace of mind.

If your loved one's device loses connectivity — the battery dies or they enter an area without signal — you will see the last known location on the map along with the timestamp. When connectivity returns, the location updates automatically. You can also set up an inactivity alert that notifies you if no location update has been received for a period you choose.