Designed to support dialogue around Chronic Idiopathic Constipation
Synergy Pharmaceuticals, a biopharmaceutical company focused on the development and commercialization of novel GI therapies, announced the Poop Troop, a series of 14 animated emojis designed to encourage conversation and allow people to better express the physical and emotional impact of chronic idiopathic constipation (CIC). Bowel movements can be a sensitive topic for people who live with CIC.
The Poop Troop is part of a wider disease education initiative launched by Synergy, called Confront Constipation, designed to raise the understanding and dialogue on CIC. The Poop Troop emoji keyboard app is available for iOS and Android. Once installed, the Poop Troop can be accessed directly from the standard keyboard page on a user’s smartphone.
CIC is one of the most common functional gastrointestinal disorders worldwide, affecting approximately 14% of the global population. In addition to causing infrequent, hard stools and other physical symptoms such as straining, abdominal bloating, and discomfort, CIC can negatively affect an individual’s quality of life, including increasing stress levels and anxiety.
However, recent research has shown that more than 90% of people use emojis in their everyday digital conversations. The Poop Troop is inspired by the highly popular poop emoji but designed for people living with CIC. Each character in the free keyboard app represents a type of bowel movement: from constipation, to normal, to diarrhea and emotion that people with CIC often associate with each, including ‘stressed’, ‘depressed’, ‘angry’, ‘relieved’, ‘cool’, ‘euphoric’, ‘surprised’, ‘concerned’ and ’embarrassed’.
“Many people with CIC feel embarrassed or uncomfortable talking about their symptoms with those closest to them, so they often suffer in silence”, said Julie Holcombe, Senior Director, Marketing, Synergy Pharmaceuticals Inc. “Our hope is that the Poop Troop can help make difficult conversations easier for people with CIC while raising awareness around the impact of CIC beyond those living with this complex disorder”.
“Maintaining an open dialogue with your healthcare provider is one of the first steps to developing an appropriate treatment plan for CIC”, said Kimberly D. Orleck, Physician Assistant at Atlanta Gastroenterology Associates. “These emojis are not intended to serve as a diagnostic or a medical tool, however, the Poop Troop may provide patients with a more comfortable, visual way to communicate their physical symptoms and related state of mind to their healthcare provider, which then may lead to a more productive conversation around their health and CIC treatment goals”.
Source businesswire.com
