CareMap

Inspiration

As a group of college women, we were inspired by our own experiences and those of our peers in navigating sexual and reproductive health on campus. We recognized the challenges of finding free menstrual products, protective sex products, and gender-neutral bathrooms, and the lack of accessible and inclusive resources for students. We were motivated to create a solution that would empower our fellow students to take control of their health and well-being, promote inclusivity, and foster a supportive community. Our own experiences, combined with the desire to make a positive impact on our campus, inspired us to develop CareMap and provide a much-needed resource for college students' sexual and reproductive health.

What it does

CareMap is a comprehensive and user-friendly website designed to promote sexual and reproductive health among college students. Using an interactive map, the website allows users to easily locate and share information about free menstrual products, protective sex products, gender-neutral bathrooms, and other relevant resources on their campus. The website also features a chatbot that provides personalized support and answers common questions related to sexual health. By offering inclusive and accurate information, fostering a supportive community, and promoting informed decision-making, CareMap empowers college students to take control of their health and well-being in a fun and accessible way.

How we built it

To build the CareMap website, we utilized a combination of various technologies. Firstly, we integrated MapBox API, which is an open-source mapping platform providing functionalities such as maps, navigation, and geocoding. This API provided the base map for the website. Next, we created the backend on MongoDB to store user location submissions. MongoDB is a popular NoSQL database system that stores data in a JSON-like format. This database system was used to store all user submissions, including location data. We then used API requests to add locations to the map. These API requests were made to the backend MongoDB database to retrieve the user submissions and display them on the map.

In addition, we used Open AI's API to create a chatbot that would listen to users for their questions about sexual health. Open AI's API is a machine learning platform that provides various AI-powered capabilities. We integrated this API to create a chatbot that could answer users' questions about sexual health. The chatbot used natural language processing (NLP) to understand the user's query and provide relevant information. Finally, we used React on the frontend to build the user interface, enabling users to view the map, add their location data, and interact with the chatbot. React is an open-source JavaScript library used to build user interfaces and is widely used by web developers due to its efficiency and ease of use. Overall, the combination of MapBox API, MongoDB, API requests, Open AI's API, and React helped us create the CareMap website.

Challenges we ran into

While building the CareMap website, we encountered several challenges. Firstly, we faced some difficulties setting up the MapBox API. Although the API provided a base map for the website, there were some issues with integrating it with our backend and frontend systems. Additionally, we ran into problems with the Open AI API while creating the chatbot feature. We set up the interface, but ran into problems with authorizing the API on the backend that prevented us from implementing it on the frontend. Lastly, we ran out of time to fully connect the frontend to the backend. Although we were able to implement some API requests to add locations to the map, we were not able to complete all the features we had planned due to time constraints. Despite these challenges, we were able to deliver a functional website that provides users with valuable information on sexual health and resources in their local area.