|
Medical packaging must comply with an increasingly complex set of requirements imposed by both regulation and the demands of product managers. Often, ease of use requirements are either ignored or seen as being at odds with other, more critical requirements, such as the requirements for child resistant packaging. An ageing population has caused renewed interest in designing medical packaging that is more ‘elderlyfriendly’ and generally easier to use. Human performance research has contributed greatly to knowledge bases and has led to a better understanding of how to meet the medical packaging needs of older adults, but many gaps remain. A user-centred approach during the design and optimisation of packaging solutions can lead to an engineered result that meets packaging requirements and the needs of consumers (1).
Medical packaging that is too difficult to open is a common source of consumer dissatisfaction (2). The demand for ease of use in medical packaging is expected to increase as the population ages. Agerelated functional decline in strength, dexterity, and visual ability directly impacts packaging ease of use (3-5). With an ageing population comes an increase in the prevalence of arthritis, which is the number one cause of disability in the US (6). The need for easy to use packaging for medical products designed to treat arthritis is clear. Consumers seeking relief from the symptoms of arthritis should not have to suffer while accessing their medication. Additionally, arthritis is a common comorbidity with other chronic diseases such as diabetes and heart disease, suggesting a compelling reason for addressing ease of use issues in all medical packaging (7).
|
