Built on lived experience: a menstrual health app

Health Innovation Kent Surrey Sussex (KSS) was commissioned by 28X to capture lived experiences of women to help shape their new menstrual health app. Backed by the Philips Foundation, the 28X app is designed to be free, accessible and inclusive, helping people access and navigate reliable menstrual health.

Women face longstanding inequalities in menstrual and reproductive health. Disparities are worse for women from global majority backgrounds[1] and for women who are neurodivergent.[2] Many experience delayed diagnoses, misinformation, cultural barriers and dismissal within the healthcare system.

To better understand these challenges, two focus groups were held with 20 women from global majority communities and women who are neurodivergent. The sessions explored how women find menstrual health information, the barriers they face, and how digital tools could better support their needs.

Dr MaryAnn Ferreux, Chief Medical Officer said “At Health Innovation Kent Surrey Sussex, we believe innovation in women’s health must begin with lived experience. Digital tools succeed when they earn people’s trust. Our work with 28X demonstrates how equity-led co-design can transform digital health solutions into trusted, culturally competent tools that genuinely improve confidence, access, and outcomes in menstrual health.”

 

Amber Vodegel, CEO, 28X said: “Partnering with Health Innovation KSS was a deliberate choice. We wanted independent, rigorous research conducted by people who understand both NHS systems and the communities we serve. At 28X, we believe the women who have faced the greatest barriers to menstrual health information should be the ones shaping the tools designed to support them. This research, led by Health Innovation KSS, ensured that global majority women and neurodivergent women weren’t an afterthought, they were the starting point. That’s not just good practice, it’s the only way to build something that truly works and delivers the impact we need. This report is a gift to our roadmap, and will directly inform how 28X develops as a trusted, NHS-aligned tool for women across the UK.”

Key findings:

The focus groups highlighted three main themes:

• Barriers to accessing menstrual health information: including cultural taboos, dismissal of symptoms, digital challenges, postpartum confusion and contradictory advice.
• Concerns about data sharing: with participants expressing distrust of current period tracking apps due to unclear privacy policies, fears about data breaches and concerns about data being sold or used for targeted advertising.
• A need for holistic, personalised menstrual-health information: that reflects a women’s life stage, symptoms, contraception, cultural context, and health conditions. Feeling believed, reassured and treated with respect was essential.

Designing the future

The user‑led approach to shape 28X will result in a clinically grounded, culturally competent app designed around lived experience. Recommendations on personalisation, navigation, tracking, culturally competent content, privacy transparency and NHS alignment will directly inform the development of 28X.

Find out more

Read the report

Read the case study

[1] Global majority communities refers to all ethnic groups except white British and other white groups, including white minorities, which currently represent 85% of the world’s population.(National Inclusion Week and BLAM UK)

[2] Neurodivergence is a term used when someone’s brain processes, learns, and/or behaves differently from what is considered “typical”. Examples of neurodivergent conditions include Dyslexia, Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD and Autism Spectrum Condition (ASC) (Royal College of Nursing)