Protecting Independence as Canada Ages

MedicAlert’s NAVIVA™ platform combines wearable safety technology, trusted support infrastructure, and research innovation to help Canadians live safely and independently in their communities.

The Challenge

Canada’s population is aging rapidly, bringing new challenges for families, communities, and health systems.

• By 2030, nearly one in four Canadians will be over the age of 65.
• The majority of older adults say they want to remain in their own homes and communities as they age.
• At the same time, families and caregivers often struggle with how to balance independence and safety for loved ones who may be living alone.

As more Canadians choose to age in place, there is a growing need for solutions that help people maintain their independence while ensuring support is available when it is needed.

MedicAlert believes technology, research, and trusted safety infrastructure all have a role to play in helping meet this challenge.

Protecting Independence as Canada Ages

Across Canada, families, communities, and governments are facing a growing question: how do we support people to live safely and independently for as long as possible?

Most people want to remain in their own homes and communities as they age. Independence is closely tied to dignity, identity, and quality of life. Yet maintaining that independence can become more complicated when health risks, mobility challenges, or unexpected situations arise.

Families often carry the burden of uncertainty:
What happens if something goes wrong and no one is there to help?

At MedicAlert, we see this reality every day. For more than 60 years, MedicAlert has helped ensure that essential health information is available when it matters most, allowing first responders to make informed decisions in critical moments.

Through this work, we increasingly heard from families looking for ways to support loved ones before emergencies occur — tools that could help people maintain independence while ensuring help could be reached quickly if needed.

NAVIVA™ was built to help address that need.

NAVIVA in 10 Seconds

NAVIVA™ is a personal safety technology platform designed to help people maintain their independence while ensuring support can be reached quickly when it’s needed.

NAVIVA combines wearable devices, location awareness, and connectivity with MedicAlert’s trusted safety infrastructure to help individuals stay connected to assistance and to the people who care about them.

For families and caregivers, it provides reassurance. For individuals, it helps preserve autonomy and independence.

Why MedicAlert Built NAVIVA

MedicAlert has long played a trusted role in Canada’s emergency response ecosystem. When someone wearing a MedicAlert ID requires assistance, first responders can quickly access critical medical information that helps guide care.

But families increasingly told us they needed reassurance before emergencies happen.

They wanted a way for loved ones to continue living independently while knowing that assistance could be reached if something unexpected occurred.

NAVIVA reflects an evolution of MedicAlert’s mission — helping ensure that support and essential information are available not only during emergencies, but also in the everyday moments when safety and independence matter most.

What NAVIVA Does

NAVIVA helps people stay independent while remaining connected to support when needed.

The NAVIVA platform includes wearable devices such as pendants and watches that allow individuals to access assistance and stay connected with trusted contacts.

Key capabilities include:

• Quick access to help through an easy-to-use wearable device
• Location awareness, allowing trusted contacts to locate someone if support is needed
• Connection to family or caregivers, providing reassurance when something unexpected happens
• Integration with MedicAlert’s trusted safety ecosystem, extending support beyond traditional medical IDs

By combining technology with MedicAlert’s decades of experience connecting individuals, families, and responders, NAVIVA helps strengthen the safety net that supports independent living.

Solutions like NAVIVA can also play an important role in supporting aging in place — helping families manage risk while potentially reducing avoidable emergency responses and hospital visits.

Protecting Independence — Not Replacing It

Technology designed to support people as they age must do more than provide alerts or monitoring — it must respect autonomy.

For many people, independence is something they have spent a lifetime building — raising families, pursuing careers, and contributing to their communities. The goal of supportive technology should not be to take that independence away, but to help protect it.

NAVIVA was designed with that principle at its core: providing access to help when it is needed, without compromising the dignity and autonomy people value.

Continuing Innovation: NAVIVA Micro

NAVIVA represents the beginning of a new generation of safety technologies being developed by MedicAlert.

One example of this work is NAVIVA Micro, an emerging innovation focused on creating smaller, more discreet GPS-enabled technology that can be integrated directly into wearable products such as medical identification bracelets.

NAVIVA Micro aims to expand how safety technology can support independence by making it even more seamless and integrated into everyday life while preserving the dignity and autonomy people value.

Research Collaboration: NAVIVA Micro

The development of NAVIVA Micro is being advanced through a research collaboration with leading experts in aging, technology, and clinical care.

MedicAlert is working with Carleton University and the AGE-WELL SAM³ National Innovation Hub, one of Canada’s leading centres for aging and technology innovation.

This collaboration includes:

Dr. Bruce Wallace
Professor at Carleton University and Executive Director of the AGE-WELL SAM³ National Innovation Hub, whose work focuses on accelerating technologies that support healthy aging and independent living.

Dr. Andrew Frank
Cognitive and behavioural neurologist and researcher with the Bruyère Memory Program at Bruyère Health’s Élisabeth-Bruyère Hospital in Ottawa, whose clinical expertise helps inform how technologies like NAVIVA Micro can support individuals and families managing complex safety challenges.

Through this collaboration, MedicAlert is ensuring that innovations like NAVIVA Micro are informed by clinical expertise, research evidence, and real-world needs.

Supporting Independence and Community Safety

Supporting independence as Canadians age will require collaboration between families, healthcare providers, community organizations, researchers, and technology innovators.

For decades, MedicAlert has helped connect individuals, families, and first responders by ensuring critical health information is available during emergencies.

NAVIVA — and innovations like NAVIVA Micro — represent the next step in that evolution, helping strengthen the safety infrastructure that supports independent living.

Through continued innovation and research collaboration, MedicAlert is working to help Canadians remain safe, connected, and independent in their communities.