A Graphic Design For Transmitting Barrier-free Information On OTC Packaging For The Elderly

As the world population ages,promoting the welfare of the elderly patients has become essential,particularly in an era where the health industry rapidly expands and develops.Individuals in advanced age are more prone to illness,and therefore are the major consumers of pharmaceutical products.As they get older,their vision,cognition,and memory deteriorate,and this inadvertently hinders them in accurately identifying the information on medication packages.So far,there has been some standardizations on barrier-free packaging designs for over the counter OTC medication in China and around the world,however,there is still few design specifically for the elderly.Information can be communicated visually by designs in graphics,text and color.And graph is the most efficient,effective,and direct way of carrying information,particularly for the elderly with lower education,reading impairment and comprehension difficulties.This stud y intends to take two things into account: the elderly’s cognition to visual cues,and their response to graphic designs on packaging;it explores designing on OTC packaging that best fits the elderly’s cognition to give them convenience,pleasure and confidence.Studies show that brand names or chemical names that appear on packaging tend to be inconvenient for patients to read or memorize the pharmaceutical information.Poorer vision prevents them from reading and understanding the instructions--usually printed in small font size.On the other hand,a packaging that incorporates both text and graphic designs can better deliver information on the efficacy,dosage,and other properties,while boast patients’ confidence,compliance,and self-awareness.The questionnaire used in this study consists of two parts: the first part identifies the common OTC packaging used by elderly patients;the second part categorizes them and analyses their graphic designs.Answer forms and questionnaires are created to test patients’ perceptive sensitivities to the graphic designs.Built on the empirical evidence,a barrier-free graphic packaging has been designed and the effects analyzed.This paper studies the graphic design of the common OCT packaging for the elderly patients,categorizes their graphic designs,summarizes and analyzes their form,and explores the ideal graphic design that best fit the patients’ psychological and physiological needs.This paper also aims at providing insights in the application of barrier-free graphic design.Graphic symbols are important carriers of information in delivering the efficacy,dosage,and other properties of drugs while providing confidence,compliance,and self-awareness.It is important to note that the graphic designs should be multifactorial that integrates different aspects such as drug’s safety,company’s branding,marketing & sales and others.