Hand disabilities study as framework for future disabled design - cooking to increase self-esteem: evidence from hong kong

TL;DR: Hand disabilities limit daily activities and self-esteem due to biopsychosocial approach and social exclusion. Cooking can help individuals with hand disabilities build self-esteem and provide a platform for designing utensils that support their needs.

Abstract: People with hand disabilities are influenced greatly in various daily activities, such as dressing alone and engaging in cooking tasks. Being limited by the use of only one hand may also have an impact on their self-esteem due to the biopsychosocial approach and social exclusion, despite their ability to manage many of their daily tasks independently. Thus, cooking, which could be a solution for them to face the challenge and support their family by themselves, can serve as an alternative platform for proposing design utensils that support them in developing their self-esteem. Research shows that carrying heavy utensils and processing ingredients systematically with one hand would be a significant challenge in Asian cooking. Therefore, an evaluation of the benefits and drawbacks of pot and chopping board designs could be conducted, along with recommendations for improving the design of such tools for the design educational purpose. Since research is still developing, the design criteria for the cooking utensil which aims to smoothen the cooking process with one hand would be conducted to assist target users in building their self-esteem through cooking.