#MEAction announces its updated Global Directory!

Earlier in the year, we first started working on revamping our global directory at #MEAction, and we’re pleased and proud to debut the new tool today!

View the Global Directory

Ollie, a volunteer with #MEAction, joined me in April to implement some much-needed changes.  We worked together on the Directory, meeting every other week, for several months– making sure it did what we needed to do, and delivered a polished look.  Ollie and I are incredibly excited to be able to settle the Directory into its new home.

“I joined MEAction as a volunteer in February, and the first project I worked on was the Global Directory… the current format of the directory had serious limitations!”

The project wasn’t a click-it-and-done endeavor. First, Ollie had to harmonzie the data, removing duplicates and standardizing how fields were formatted. After that, we began an iterative process of reviewing, going over the Directory together, and refining it to make it as useful as possible. “The form relied heavily on free text fields that resulted in major discrepancies in how values were entered,” Ollie reported. “So there were four different ways people had typed ‘the United States’!” And that meant the data was challenging for users to sort.

Ollie also used conditional logic to show users fields only when necessary to limit confusion on what they’re expected to enter. This makes it more maintainable, as the data in the dashboard is only as good as the data that feeds it.  We also added regional data.  For example, in the past you could only search ME/CFS-literate doctors in Alabama, but now you can search for doctors in a broader area, like the Southeastern US.  This is especially useful for people living with ME in more rural areas.

We designed a new look for the page as well!

Ollie summed it up best: “It took several months to get the directory and form to where it is now, but as I mentioned to Jaime during one of our regular meetings, it’s worth it to do it right.”

There are still real issues finding ME-literate clinicians around the world, and as you know, we’re working on that, too!

However, being able to locate those near you just got a whole lot easier.

You can submit the name and contact information of clinicians you trust here.

View the Global Directory

If you value this work, please donate by clicking the button below.

Donate