Sydney Cooling-Sturges

Better by Bumble

Feel empowered to realize your health, well-being, and dignity with Better by Bumble. Young adults have been condemned to poor health and wellbeing, financial burden, and shame surrounding their sexual and reproductive health for far too long. Quality sex education, which has historically been inaccessible due to stigma and fear, is the key to addressing and preventing the root causes of negative sexual and reproductive health outcomes. By equipping people with the right information, Better by Bumble empowers individuals to better take care of their bodies. Better by Bumble is a digital learning platform that provides information, tools, and resources to support and enhance your Sexual and Reproductive Health. Choose learning modules relevant to your interests and goals, discover services in your area, and attract new matches on Bumble Date by earning our Sex-Ed Micro-Cred for your profile. Because you deserve Better.For more info, please check out my Process Book, App Demo, and Causal Loop diagram visual linked below.

“Better by Bumble was borne out of my experiences as a person living with Endometriosis. If you don’t know what that is, don’t worry because I didn’t either. Basically, the uterus lines itself with tissue each month in preparation for pregnancy. If no fertilized egg is implanted, the lining breaks down and is shed during menstruation. For whatever reason, the tissue that normally lines the inside of the uterus grows outside of my uterus, which has caused me years of pain, excessive menstrual cramps, and an abnormally heavy menstrual flow. I began experiencing symptoms of this condition as early as age 13, but would spend 5 years struggling to navigate the medical system in order to find treatment and diagnosis – I got off easy considering the median diagnosis time for reproductive conditions in Canada is 8 years. In the summer of 2020, two years after my first laparoscopic surgery for excision of endometriosis, I began experiencing symptoms again. Luckily, because I had already been through the diagnosis and treatment process, I knew a thing or two; I was able to receive treatment within the month (and that's during a Global Pandemic, to boot!) I felt shame regarding my health problem for years, I thought I was dirty and gross. I felt my mental health slip as my condition worsened and it began to heavily prevent me from carrying out day to day tasks. I felt stigma whenever I talked about my condition because reproductive health is seen as a political issue rather than a health issue. I always wished things were different, not just for me but for the estimated 1 in 10 women in Canada that will experience a reproductive health problem in their lifetime. I believe sex education is the key to sexual and reproductive health and wellness. Speaking from experience, the knowledge I learned from being diagnosed brought me from a 5 year treatment journey to being treated within a month. However, sex education doesn’t just reduce treatment and diagnosis times! Comprehensive sex-ed leads to a reduction in the rate of STIs and STDs, better knowledge and attitudes around sexuality, and can prevent and reduce gender- and sexuality-based violence and discrimination.Education is one of the most empowering tools we have, yet there is no national sex education strategy in Canada, no provincial or territorial funding at a scale that would ensure educators have the resources and training to deliver this material, and there are no accountability mechanisms in place when sex-ed is sub-par or not taught. Sex education is recognized as a basic human right and Canada is failing its population, especially young people, by treating this critical health issue as a low-priority, politically sensitive issue. For my thesis, I sought to create a service that provides access to high-quality sex-ed for all of the young adults like me that have been suffering the consequences of sub-par or entirely absent sex education. If any part of my thesis resonates with you, please join me in demanding better access to high-quality sex-ed and holding our governments accountable when they fail to meet the mark.Because I truly believe we deserve better. ”