Hand performance assessment of ten people with rheumatoid arthritis when using a range of specified saucepans.

PURPOSE: The aim of the pilot study was to provide information about the design and use of saucepan handles to enable clinicians and designers to specify and provide products that are more appropriate for use by people with Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA). The objectives were: to evaluate aspects of new handle design for saucepans in terms of their ease of use for people with RA; document hand grip strength and configuration (grip patterns); record relevant anthropometric data to aid the development of new designs and perform an assessment of lifting techniques used in conjunction with perceived optimum handle configuration. METHOD/RESULTS: Observation and video footage show that subjects continued to use familiar, but damaging, ways of lifting the saucepan even after extensive joint protection training by occupational therapists. Grip strengths recorded using a sphygmomanometer were similar to those found by other studies. The anthropometric measurements taken from the sample group were found to be within available anthropometric surveys of able-bodied people. However, hand length within the sample group with RA was longer than the equivalent in surveys of able-bodied subjects. CONCLUSIONS: Subjects preferred the narrower handles with some surface texture to the larger and more rounded tapered handles. Large handled saucepans were found not to be viable due to the constraints of UK cooking hob sizes and existing British Standards relating to saucepan specification.

The development of the Port-a-Bidet: a portable bidet for people with minimal hand function.

Our Institute has investigated the expressed needs of many severely disabled people. One requirement was for a portable bidet that would fit on a standard toilet, so that they could still have some of the advantages of their automatic washing/drying/flushing toilet when away from their own house. Potential users were consulted, from the specification stage through to final production model testing, to ensure that the desired device was produced. The Port-a-Bidet is a lightweight device, with its own water container, spray unit, pump and power supply. It allows a user with very weak arms to wash themselves with warm water, and a hands-free drying method is explained in the instruction booklet. The whole unit is transported in a discreet carrying bag, and can easily be set up by an unskilled person. The Port-a-Bidet can be controlled by commercially available single switch activators, so that any user can operate it.