Euki, from Ibis Reproductive Health and Women Help Women, protects users’ private data
CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – A recently released smartphone app offers a new model of health information and tracking technology. Euki, built using research from Ibis Reproductive Health and released by Women Help Women, provides comprehensive sexual and reproductive health (SRH) information and tracking all in one place, without stigmatizing users or sharing their data. Its production was spurred by formative research which showed that currently available apps do not meet the complete needs of their users.
Euki is the first app of its kind to offer three main innovations concurrently:
- Comprehensive sexual and reproductive health information, placing abortion where it belongs, alongside information about sexuality, birth control, pregnancy, miscarriage, STIs, and more.
- A supportive, inclusive, and customizable interface, allowing users to customize content and features.
- Privacy and security, storing data only on the user’s phone, where automated deletion features allow users to erase all the information they’ve logged, if they choose. Users also have the option to create a PIN to keep Euki private and enter an emergency code to display a fake screen if someone forces them to open the app.
“What we found in focus groups and interviews is that people who can get pregnant want an app that provides accurate information about all types of sexual health experiences, free of assumptions or predictive programming,” said Caitlin Gerdts, Vice President for Research at Ibis Reproductive Health. “We want all people to be able to monitor their own sexual and reproductive health without fearing that information about their bodies would be shared widely or viewed by others who access their phone — this app provides that assurance.”
Like other SRH apps, Euki allows users to track information about menstruation, birth control, and sex. But it also takes care to address the questions of anyone who can get pregnant.
“Euki addresses all users’ unique needs, regardless of their sexual orientation or gender expression. It includes comprehensive information about reproductive health, how to have conversations about these topics, and how to support friends and family who have miscarriages or choose abortion,” said Susan Yanow, a consultant for Women Help Women (WHW). “Like WHW’s counselors, Euki provides information in accessible, non-judgmental terms that empower each user to make choices that are right for them.”
In addition to the research conducted prior to development, guidance and feedback on branding, content, design, and functionality was provided by a Community Advisory Team made up of people under 35 years old, assigned female at birth, and currently not trying to get pregnant.
Euki is now available on the Apple App Store, as well as on Google Play for Android users. For more information on the formation research behind Euki, read our research briefs: Understanding the mHealth needs for sexual and reproductive health information in the United States and Testing a sexual and reproductive health mHealth prototype in the United States.
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Ibis Reproductive Health is a global nonprofit driving change through bold, rigorous research and principled partnerships that advance sexual and reproductive autonomy, choices, and health worldwide. We believe that research can catalyze change when the entire process is viewed as an opportunity to shift power, is undertaken in partnership with the communities most impacted, and includes a focus on how data can be most effectively used to make change. We focus on increasing access to quality abortion care, transforming access to abortion and contraception through technology and service innovations, and expanding comprehensive sexual and reproductive health information and services. Ibis works with partners in more than 30 countries on six continents. Learn more at ibisreproductivehealth.org.
Women Help Women is an international activist non-profit organization working on access to abortion. We are feminist activists, trained counsellors, medical professionals, and researchers based across 4 continents who have a strong focus on supporting self-managed abortion, especially in places where abortion is restricted by laws, stigma and lack of access. Our projects include (a) a global telehealth service that provides information, support and abortion pills to women around the world and (b) partnerships with local feminist groups around the world to support increased access to abortion pills. Learn more at www.womenhelp.org.