Abstract
In Europe, package leaflets and the outside of medicine
packaging provide information about medicines for
patients and healthcare providers. Patients, mainly
elderly men and women, often take several different
medicines on a daily basis. Handling pharmaceutical
packaging and leaflets is an unavoidable necessity for
them. To read and understand information on
pharmaceutical packages requires a combination of
physical ability (eyesight and dexterity) and
intelligence (relating information to a personal
situation). Healthcare providers face similar challenges
in their everyday work. Preventing mistakes while
administering medication is a subject that concerns
healthcare providers all over the world. Unfortunately,
accidents with medicines occur because the visual design
of information is not seem sufficient to enable people to
act appropriately. In order to evaluate the visual design
of information, it seems essential to differentiate
between findability, readability, understanding and
application. Ignoring these different actions leads to
practical problems and increases the risks related to the
handling and use of medicines. Currently different types
of readability tests are used to evaluate the
readability. However, none of them is applicable as such
for evaluating findability, readability, understanding
and application. Consensus about the test methods and
test criteria still needs to be reached, and their
validity and reliability are continuously discussed. In
this paper, some of the main factors influencing the
practical use of information on pharmaceutical packages
are described. The paper examines current practice and
the related European guidelines on readability and
testing methods. It shows that these guidelines only
cover a small area of relevant factors, and they do not
really help practice to develop suitable designs of
packaging and package leaflets. Thus, it seems necessary
to develop specific guidelines for the designing and
testing of medicine packaging. The paper is part of a
project on developing tools to produce user-friendly
pharmaceutical packages that are easy to open with easy
to read and appropriate instructions. These two are
critical factors for the safe use of pharmaceuticals. The
project includes cooperation between VTT Technical
Research Centre of Finland and Avans University in the
Netherlands.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Title of host publication | 18th IAPRI World Packaging Conference |
| Editors | Jay Singh |
| Publisher | DEStech Publications Inc. |
| Pages | 79-85 |
| ISBN (Print) | 978-1-605-95084-6 |
| Publication status | Published - 2012 |
| MoE publication type | A4 Article in a conference publication |
| Event | 18th IAPRI World Packaging Conference - San Luis Obispo, United States Duration: 17 Jun 2012 → 21 Jun 2012 |
Conference
| Conference | 18th IAPRI World Packaging Conference |
|---|---|
| Country/Territory | United States |
| City | San Luis Obispo |
| Period | 17/06/12 → 21/06/12 |
Keywords
- Readability
- pharmacetical packaging
- package leaflet
- readability test
- packaging graphics