The need for easy to open packaging
Difficult packaging excludes a growing market. Inclusive design means more customers – and more revenue. Let people love your product, not hate your packaging.
Demonstrate that your product is easy to use
The Easy to use label provides independent verification that a product has been tested by individuals with impaired hand function and approved by the Swedish Rheumatism Association. It serves as a recognised mark of usability and accessibility, helping organisations demonstrate their commitment to designing products that are easier for everyone to use.
Certification as Easy to use confirms that a product has successfully met the requirements of practical user testing, including assessment by people with impaired hand function. The label enables manufacturers and brand owners to communicate a product’s ease of use with confidence, while helping consumers identify products that are straightforward to open, handle and use.
Here you will find guidelines, examples and communication materials to support the correct use of the Easy to use label.
About Easy to use
Unique test and certification
Our Easy to use certification is based on usability test of packaging and products, carried out by individuals with impaired hand function.
Demonstrate that your product is easy to use
Here you will find guidelines, examples and communication materials to support the correct use of the Easy to use label.
Is your product truly easy to use?
Design for usability. Involve people with the highest demand early – it’s smart and cost-effective. If it works for those with limited hand function, it works for everyone.
Not only for people with arthritis
The ease of opening and handling the packaging can be crucial in determining whether customers are satisfied with their purchase or not.
About us
The Swedish Rheumatism Association, founded in 1945, is the largest patient association in Sweden. We work for people with rheumatic and musculoskeletal diseases.
Easy to use label launched
We have launched a product label for packaging and products that have been tested and certified as Easy to use.
Certified products
What packaging and products has been tested and approved by the Swedish Rheumatism Association so far? Companies like Ecolean, Essity and Tetra Pak has tested products.
Stories from test participants
Easy to use test are carried out by people with impaires hand function, who generously lend their hands as measuring tools. Meet some of them here.
Contact
E-post: Kristina Heilborn
News
2 juli 2026
Swedish Rheumatism Association Highlights Accessible Packaging Innovation with Packnorth Award Nominations
The Swedish Rheumatism Association has nominated Sonoco’s Orbit™ lid and Tetra Pak’s Lightwing™ 30 closure for the Packnorth Award. The nominations recognise packaging innovations that improve accessibility, independence and ease of use for consumers, particularly those with reduced hand strength or limited mobility.
22 april 2026
Hard‑to‑open medicine packaging can compromise patient safety
Giana Carli Lorenzini, PhD, is Assistant Professor at the Department of Engineering Technology, Technical University of Denmark. She conducts research on patient‑centred pharmaceutical packaging and welfare technology, using a sociotechnical and inclusive design perspective, with a particular focus on how older people manage medicines at home. Her research shows that today’s medicine packaging is often difficult to understand and open, which can lead to misuse and increased risks to patient safety.
5 februari 2026
Ecolean – the only company to have all its packages approved
It’s not easy to get a package approved by the Swedish Rheumatism Association. One company has succeeded in having all its products approved and certified as Easy to use by the Swedish Rheumatism Association. That company is Ecolean, headquartered in Helsingborg, Sweden. Ecolean develops packaging and equipment for liquid food products. Their packages are used for items such as milk, yoghurt, cream, plant-based drinks and still beverages. The company is known for its lightweight and flexible packaging, designed to use less material than traditional alternatives. We had a brief chat with Cecilia Ask, the company’s Communication & Marketing Manager.