‘Let’s talk FGM’ app wins design award

The 'Let's talk FGM' app, designed by Oxford Health nurse Joanne McEwan, has won an award at the London Design Awards.

‘Let’s talk FGM’ app wins design award

The ‘Let’s talk FGM‘ app won the Gold award in the digital health category at the London Design Awards.

The app is the brainchild of Joanne McEwan, a public health nurse at Oxford Health. Joanne regularly came across survivors of female genital mutilation (FGM) survivors during her work as a health visitor in Oxford, and she worked with campaigners and FGM survivors to produce a tool to enable discussions about FGM.

“FGM is a difficult subject to discuss,” she says. “I wanted to produce something that could help professionals enquire sensitively about FGM.”

A successful collaboration

Joanne won funding for the project through a Mary Seacole Leadership Award, which recognises outstanding work in the black and ethnic minority community. Joanne then worked with the Oxford-based digital agency White October to produce the app.

Frances Place led the project at White October, and they had to get to grips with how to present the content. She says, “The most important factor was presenting the content in a simple, easily digestible way, to give health professionals what they need to start the conversation about FGM.”

The simplicity and ease of use of the app means that general members of the public have also found it an excellent source of information about FGM, and a useful tool to spur discussion about the issue.

An award winning app

The app has now been judged the best in its category at the London Design Awards, a global award series that celebrates excellence in design. Other winners in the awards include Mercedes Benz, Jaguar and the Apple Store in Regent Street in London.

Find out more about the app, and download it from the Apple app store.

News coverage

Nursing Standard – Nurse wins award for app that tackles female genital mutilation

Oxford Mail – App on FGM designed by Oxford Health nurse cleans up at London Design Awards

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Published: 24 November 2016