Reimagining support for women with heavy periods
Heavy menstrual bleeding (HMB) affects one in four women, yet many struggle in silence. How can we design a digital solution that helps them get the support they need?
That was the question at the centre of our Women’s and Girls’ Health Hackathon, which brought together over 70 public health professionals, clinicians, academics and tech experts.
Millions of women and girls experience HMB – when periods are unusually long or heavy – yet more than half say their symptoms aren’t taken seriously. Many from minoritised communities face additional challenges accessing support due to issues such as language barriers and digital accessibility.
Beth Jones, GP and Clinical Lead for NHS South East London’s Women’s and Girls’ Programme, set the scene: “Of the 90,000 south east London women affected by heavy menstrual bleeding, fewer than one in 10 seek advice from their GP each year. However, this condition accounts for around 1,000 urgent and emergency care attendances every year – that’s almost three a day.”
“Women are often required to navigate complex and fragmented health systems to access the care they need. Trusted, culturally sensitive and timely health information can mean the difference between early support and a late diagnosis.”
Participants worked in teams to design low-cost solutions that considered the health inequalities faced by people dealing with HMB and related disorders.
After eight hours of collaboration, each team delivered a ‘Dragon’s Den’ style pitch to a panel of health and tech experts. The judges were impressed by the calibre of the solutions which ranged from multilingual chatbots to an AI-integrated WhatsApp community where users could connect and share experiences.
The winning team created an application called SistaCare (pictured below) which asked users a short series of questions to determine the severity of their symptoms. Based on their responses, it offered personalised, clinically accurate guidance, along with information about local health clinics where they can access further support, and a sponsored partnership to offer discounts on sanitary products.
Israa Siddig, Healthcare Consultant and Women’s Health Doctor, said: “There have been some very exciting and innovative ideas today. This is the kind of event that provides inspiration and what’s really touching is at the middle of it, people are passionate about improving the NHS.”
Watch highlights from the hackathon to find out more:
The event highlighted just what’s possible when bringing together people of many different backgrounds and areas of expertise to work together for a common goal. We’ll be exploring the feasibility of the innovations and how they potentially could integrate into our Women’s and Girls’ Health Hubs.
Thank you to King’s Health Partners, King’s Institute for Artificial Intelligence, UK Black Tech, and Health Innovation Network South London for generously co-hosting the event.
Learn more about our Women’s and Girls’ Health programme.