A medication envelope functions not only as a drug container but also as a means of providing basic information on the usage and dosage of a drug. We made a prototype medication envelope based on Universal Design (UD) with which administration instructions can be obtained through the senses of sight, hearing and touch. In addition to conventional printed information, the UD medication envelope is equipped with an audio playback device to provide prerecorded spoken instructions on administration. It also has Braille labels so that administration instructions may be checked using the sense of touch.
We performed a questionnaire survey of the usefulness of the UD medication envelope after it had been used by visually impaired patients, elderly patients as well as the families of patients, caregivers, nurses, and other individuals assisting patients in taking their drugs in the home health care setting. The results showed that the use of the UD medication envelope enabled the majority of patients to understand administration instructions better, which reduced mistakes in administration. They suggest that the UD medication envelope would help ensure that patients take drugs properly, thereby strengthening safety management, and would be useful in today's society in which there are large numbers or elderly and other types of patient having special needs with regard to understanding administration instructions.
