WheelSafe

How contacts opt in to WheelSafe fall alerts

WheelSafe texts a participant’s emergency contacts only after the contact texts JOIN to the WheelSafe number themselves. That text is the consent of record. WheelSafe never texts a number that hasn’t texted it first.

In the screenshots, the participant is Dana Smith and the contact is Dana’s sibling, Alex Rivera.

  1. The participant adds the contact. In the WheelSafe iPhone app, under My Care Team, the participant enters the contact’s name and mobile number and turns on Contact on Fall. Nothing is sent.

    Add Team Member: Alex Rivera, Sibling, (404) 555-0123, with Contact on Fall on and the note that WheelSafe only texts them once they text JOIN

  2. The participant invites them from their own phone. The app opens Messages with this invite filled in and addressed to the contact, and the participant sends it as an ordinary text of their own:

    Hi, it’s Dana Smith. I’m in a research study that uses WheelSafe, an app that can tell when I may have fallen. If you’d like a text when it does, text JOIN to (404) 856-6699. You’d only get texts after a fall, so how often varies. Msg&data rates may apply. Text HELP for help, STOP to opt out. Terms & privacy: https://david-peeler.github.io/wheelsafe-texting/

    Invite Alex Rivera: the prefilled invite from Dana Smith, asking Alex to text JOIN to (404) 856-6699

  3. The contact texts JOIN to the WheelSafe number. WheelSafe replies with a confirmation, its first text to them:

    WheelSafe: You’re now a fall-alert contact. You’ll get a text only if the WheelSafe user who invited you may have fallen; frequency varies. Msg&data rates may apply. Reply HELP for help, STOP to opt out.

    Only then are they added to the alert list. A contact who doesn’t text JOIN never hears from WheelSafe. Until they do, the app shows the participant that they’re waiting; after, that they’re receiving alerts:

    My Care Team: Waiting for Alex Rivera to text JOIN to the WheelSafe number. They won't get fall alerts until they do. My Care Team: Alex Rivera, Receiving fall alerts

  4. Opting out. The contact can text STOP at any time. The app detects it and shows the participant that the contact is no longer receiving alerts.

    My Care Team: Alex Rivera texted STOP and is no longer receiving fall alerts. They can text JOIN to the WheelSafe number to resume.

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