The new daily check-in service, called “I’m Still Okay” provides an empowering way to prepare seniors who live alone for possible emergencies.
CHIANG MAI, Thailand (March 6, 2023)— A new check-in service for seniors living alone named “I’m Still Okay” was launched on February 17. “I’m Still Okay” is a balanced approach to preparing for emergencies in a dignified and empowering manner.
David Freidberg, a 73 years old American who lives in Chiang Mai, Thailand, conceived of the idea of a service for seniors living alone. But only after working with his friend Jouni Flemming, a software engineer from Finland, this idea materialized into an online service called “I’m Still Okay”.
David Freidberg and Jouni Flemming
As a senior, David has faced health challenges just like many seniors his age. He lives with his wife, but he is concerned about what will happen to his friends who also have health issues but live alone. His concern is not unfounded; According to the US Census Bureau,15 million people, or 28.3% of Americans aged more than 65 are living alone.
One day, during lunch with his friend, a lady in her mid-sixties who lives alone with her cat and has multiple health problems, he explored the idea for this service.
“She is very concerned that she will wake up some morning paralyzed and nobody will know about it and come to help her.” Then, I got the idea: a service that automatically checks up on your well-being and, if you don’t respond, will automatically contact your friends and family!” David Freidberg added.
David and Jouni designed the service to be as simple as possible. After signing up, “I’m Still Okay” will send an email every day, with a button that seniors can simply click to confirm that they’re still okay. If they ever fail to check in, the website will automatically send emails to a list of people whom they have chosen.
“As a senior myself, I wanted to ensure this service is delivered with dignity and respect for the user. This is also why I made this
a free service and I still have a bigger vision of where I want to take this service in the future. For example, I want to provide SMS support and mobile app,” David Freidberg said.
“I’m Still Okay” is also a multinational effort with people from Indonesia, Finland, Portugal, Spain, Ukraine, United States, and Thailand working together to make this service possible.
About “I’m Still Okay”
“I’m Still Okay” is a free daily check-in service for seniors all around the world who live alone. The service was created by David Freidberg, a 73-year-old American living in Chiang Mai, Thailand. David has been a professor at a university for Buddhist monks for the last 26 years. In the last six years, he has also been teaching Social Studies to refugee youths from Burma as a volunteer to prepare them for university. His selfless approach, influenced by his work, led him to create “I’m Still Okay.” The service is available at https://imstillokay.com/
Press Contacts For further details, please reach out to:
David Freidberg david@imstillokay.com
+66 81 881 5979
