Kitchen Ergonomics in Health and Healthcare: A Rapid Scoping Review

Home kitchen serves a critical role in daily activities for normal households, and home cooking has been traditionally associated with a healthy lifestyle and other potential dietary benefits. During the early stages of the Coronavirus Disease 19 (COVID-19) global pandemic, there has been an increase in home cooking activities due to widespread isolation and restrictions imposed on dining publicly. Ergonomics is at the intersection between work environments and human task performance, and kitchen ergonomics is a critical topic that characterizes the metrics that include effective, safe, and efficient cooking practices while maintaining the desired kitchen functionality. Numerous contributions across various disciplines have added content to the kitchen ergonomics area; however, some effort can still be made to discuss the current state of the literature and synthesize the domains. This rapid scoping review aims to aggregate these diverse disciplines and contribute to the understanding of user interactions with home kitchens. Adopting the Systems Engineering Initiative for Patient Safety (SEIPS) model, relevant research publications are identified and synthesized to develop a framework of kitchen ergonomics with four major disciplines: Kitchen layout, arrangement, and environment; Kitchen tools and technology; Design criterion for users with special needs; Risks & Hazards related to kitchen activities. These disciplines will be discussed to identify current research gaps and propose a roadmap of future engineering opportunities for supporting cooking activities in the home environment.