1800 My Options
The former Spatial Vision team now operating in Veris, designed and developed a web mapping application for the 1800 My Options service, in partnership with Women’s Health Victoria. The application maps and organises registered contraception, pregnancy options and sexual health service providers based on the type of provider, the services offered and other key search criteria to assist women in accessing those services as per their individual needs.
There are several barriers and service gaps that can affect women’s access to critical health services. Organisations such as Women’s Health Victoria work to reduce these barriers through initiatives that support the health and wellbeing of women and enable accessibility and availability of critical information and services.
Women’s Health Victoria (WHV) is a women’s health promotion, information, support and advocacy service. WHV work with women, health professionals, health services and policy makers to influence and inform Government health policy and service delivery for women.
As part of Victoria’s Sexual and Reproductive Health Strategy (2017-2020), the organisation operates a women’s health phone and online service called 1800 My Options. The service provides a safe, confidential way for women to access information about pregnancy and sexual health services across Victoria.
The former Spatial Vision team now operating in Veris, partnered with Women’s Health Victoria to develop an interactive web application that maps and organises registered pregnancy service providers based on the type of provider, the services offered and other key search criteria.
The Challenge
For women who are considering their options when it comes to pregnancy and sexual health, it can be hard to know where to start. The types of services offered and the variables that make these services accessible can be overwhelming and often unclear. Women’s Health Victoria identified a need for data collation within a user-friendly solution that would help to guide and support women through what can often be a very stressful experience.
Veris worked with Women’s Health Victoria to develop a geo mapping application enabling pregnancy service providers to have their location and service offerings mapped to their geographical location within Victoria.
The Solution
The location-based solution provides a quick and easily accessible overview of service providers across the state, allowing women to access a range of primary health care support and service options anonymously within a safe environment.
The application is also used by the 1800 My Options team to assist women who contact the service to locate service providers that most closely meet their specific reproductive health requirements.
Features of the application include:
- An interactive map displaying service provider locations around Victoria and its state borders
- A list of data-driven filters which can be applied to the data to filter the providers shown on the map
- A scrollable list of providers showing their contact details and services, to complement the map view
- The ability to filter data by suburb or postcode using the autocomplete search box.
The application is a light web interface developed in-house using AngularJS and a set of open-source web technologies. The application facilitates geocoded postcode/suburb-based querying and includes a private secure version for exclusive use by the 1800 My Options operators to assist women who contact the service to locate service providers that most closely meet their specific requirements. Both the public and private versions are hosted on AWS services housed onshore at the Sydney AWS hosting facility.
The 1800 My Options website supports three key areas:
- ‘What to do…’ – Health information documents and resources
- ‘Where to go…’ service provider locations
- ‘Who to talk to…’ counselling and crisis support
Of these three areas, Veris developed a solution around the second point of ‘where’, integrating location data into a robust, user-friendly application. The use of data visualisation enables users to quickly analyse and understand the options available to them, ensuring full visibility of providers.
The Benefits
User-friendly interactive online application allows women to safely and discretely access health services information
- Filter options enable women to access information regarding the services most relevant to them
- Provides centralised and comprehensive service information
- Continued support and co-designed approach with enhancements work to meet evolving needs of the end user.