A Non-Clinical Safety Net for Clients Working Toward Independence

We want to be precise about what this is: not a clinical tool, not a medical device, not something we're asking you to prescribe. It's a daily check-in habit some OTs mention to clients as one piece of a broader independent-living plan.

What this is not

I'm Alive is not a medical device and makes no clinical claims about outcomes. It does include a best-effort automatic fall detector, and you should know exactly how narrow it is before you mention it to a client: iPhone only, on a paid plan, and off until the client switches it on themselves. It can miss a fall or trigger on a hard bump, it needs the phone charged and near them, and it alerts the contacts the client chose — never emergency services. It is not a fall-prevention intervention and not a substitute for one. We're not asking occupational therapists to recommend it as part of a treatment plan or clinical protocol — it's a consumer safety app that some clients living alone may find useful, the same way a therapist might mention a grab bar or a pill organizer without it being a clinical device itself.

A real, growing profession

Occupational therapists held about 160,000 jobs in the US in 2024, with employment projected to grow 14% from 2024 to 2034 — much faster than average — per the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Falls remain a significant concern in the independent-living population OTs often work with: a CDC-funded study estimated the total annual cost of non-fatal falls among older adults at roughly $80 billion (2020 estimate). We're citing that as context for why the discovery gap matters, not as evidence our product prevents falls — today it is simply a check-in habit, and even the planned best-effort fall-detection feature will not prevent falls or make any clinical claim.

Where it might fit in a conversation

Discharge planning conversations

For a client transitioning back to living alone, a daily check-in habit is a low-cost, non-clinical option worth mentioning alongside home-modification recommendations — not a substitute for any of them.

A family-reassurance tool, not a monitoring device

Families of clients working toward independence often ask what happens if something goes wrong when no one's around. A daily check-in is one honest, non-clinical answer to that question.

Being upfront

We don't have data on outcomes for clients whose OTs mentioned I'm Alive, and we're not going to imply we do. This page exists to give OTs an honest, precise description of what the app is and isn't, so you can decide for yourself whether it's worth mentioning to a specific client.

Questions about how this fits your practice?

We're happy to talk through specifics — including what we explicitly don't claim.

Or email support@imalive.co