Empowering Elderly Women with Osteoarthritis Through Hands‐On Exploration of Adaptive Equipment Concepts

Abstract The study investigated the participation experiences of elderly women with hand limitations in a maketools‐inspired activity for improving bottle openability and verified the usefulness of the results from this approach. Participatory design was used to stimulate participants' hands‐on fabrication of new bottle lid concepts. Air‐dry modeling clay, Crayola Model Magic® (Crayola LLC, 1100 Church Lane Easton, PA 18044‐0431), clay modeling tools sets and empty bottles were the tools used to explore feasible and user‐envisioned ideal lids that could potentially reduce hand pain and improve function when opening bottles. Twenty‐five elderly women fully participated in the study. They generated 36 bottle lid design concepts. Qualitative analysis identified inclusion of four primary design features as follows: 1) surface texture; 2) increased leverage through lid shape or diameters; 3) increased contact surface with palm/fingers through lid shape or height; and 4) facilitation of alternative grip types. The major limitations of the study were inclusion of only women participants and healthier persons living in a retirement community. Future research is needed to investigate the bottle lid preferences of men and persons with more severe hand function living in places other than independent living communities. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Source: Occupational Therapy International - Category: Occupational Health Authors: Tags: Research Article Source Type: research