• by Tanya Gazdik , July 2, 2018

Shire pharmaceutical company is launching an educational initiative focusing on screen responsibly, including the intersection between screen use and eye health.  

This initiative was a result of a national Shire-sponsored survey showing screen use habits by people living with dry eye or dry eye symptoms, as well as the flip side, how eye care professionals perceive screen time and their take on how it impacts your eye health.  

The campaign launched last month in partnership with Arianna Huffington and her behavior-change media and technology company, Thrive Global, to increase dialogue about how to love both screens and eyes. 

The goal of the campaign is to encourage consumers to adopt healthy habits while screening, such as taking “blink breaks.” Consumers are invited to test their knowledge on their personal screening habits through an online “responsibly screening” quiz.   

Shire is focusing on increasing visibility of the “Screen. Blink. Listen.” call to action through paid and earned media tactics including an interactive “eyelove" experience at POPSUGAR’s first ever Play/Ground Festival where Huffington served as a keynote speaker.

The campaign also features an influencer campaign with YouTube’s Smosh stars AtomicMari and Jovenshire (who both found success in careers that requires prolonged screen use); AtomicMari also spoke to the masses via satellite media tour alongsideophthalmologist Dr. Preeya Gupta of Duke University Eye Center.

Results from the screen responsibly survey of 1,001 adults with self-reported Dry Eye or Dry Eye symptoms and 1,000 ophthalmologists and optometrists revealed insights into the relationship between people with Dry Eye symptoms and screens. 

Adults were more comfortable discussing how much they weigh (41%), the amount of junk food they eat (44%), the time they spend online shopping (51%) or how much they drink on the weekends (55%) than share their screen usage. Adults agreed they cannot pursue their life passions without screens (70%). Nearly two-thirds of surveyed eye care professionals reported a rise in eye-related issues that they attribute to screen usage.  

“Our relationship with technology is one of the most important conversations of our time,” Huffington said in a release. “And that includes giving attention to how screens are affecting our first line of defense: our eyes. That’s why Thrive has joined forces with eyelove, to help people learn how to screen responsibly, while still enjoying all the benefits of technology."