27 research outputs found
Measure for measure: pack performance versus human dexterity and grip strength
‘Openability’ of food and beverage packaging has been shown to be problematic for older consumers.
Pressure on resources has seen the use of packaged food and beverages increase in hospitals within the
New South Wales region of Australia. Studies at the University of Wollongong have explored the interaction
between older people and the types of packages regularly encountered in the delivery of hospital food
and nutrition. As these types of packs are commonly found in UK hospitals as well, a series of studies have
been undertaken by the University of Wollongong, Australia, and Sheffield Hallam University, UK, to
further evaluate the issues surrounding the ‘openability’ of hospital food and beverage packaging in an
attempt to understand in detail the issues leading to difficulty in use.
Current methods of pack ‘ease of opening’ evaluation rely on hand strength as the core parameter. Our
studies examine the role of dexterity in addition to hand strength in pack opening. Water bottles, single portion
drink cartons and cheese portions were among the poorest performing packs. Dexterity, rather than
strength is found to be a sensitive and reliable method to understand the issues surrounding the poor pack
performance, and a repeatable way of comparing different pack formats is presented
Usage patterns, health, and nutritional status of long-term multiple dietary supplement users: a cross-sectional study
© 2007 Block et al; licensee BioMed Central Ltd. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Licens