Few studies have published data on the patient and caregiver experiences with tracheostomy, especially in the community setting. There is a need to better understand these experiences in order to be able to formulate strategies and provide resources to improve the quality of care and overall QoL of patients with a tracheostomy and their caregivers in-hospital and in the community.

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A tracheostomy is a commonly performed surgical procedure to alleviate some form of inadequate breathing. Tracheostomies may be temporary in the case of airway emergencies or may be for long-term access to airway and breathing depending on a patient's condition; in the case of the latter, this may have a major impact on a patient's life, one for which they are frequently unprepared. There is growing recognition that patients' views of their health care experience are an important component of quality of care. Through a deeper understanding of the challenges inherent in being a tracheostomy user, we sought via a two-stage study to inform the design of products for use by individuals with permanent tracheostomies. Stage one involved 10 participants taking part in in-depth interviews to understand the lived experience of long-term tracheostomy patients. Using thematic analysis, we found participants accepted the need for a tracheostomy but were keen to return to a life pretracheostomy. The restrictions the current designs of tracheostomy imposed was evidenced by the time required to spend on the daily care of their stoma and tracheostomy equipment, and by the significant restrictions on activities of daily living. Findings from stage one informed subsequent co-design workshops.

The aim of this study was to assess the applicability of simultaneous methodologies to describe dynamic textural complexity. In a simultaneous task, temporal dominance of sensations (TDS) and temporal textural complexity (TTC) were performed in one session (n = 17). A further 18 participants performed TDS and TTC on separate occasions; data from the simultaneous and separate session were then compared. A further aim was to investigate the temporal nature of textural complexity—temporal drivers of textural complexity were examined, as well as ratings of textural complexity across time. Regression modeling and multivariate analyses indicated little difference in how the participants in the simultaneous and separate tasks performed; only minor differences in the use of TDS attributes were noted. Positive drivers included texture contrast and crumbly/particles, while smooth was a negative driver. Significant differences in TTC data separated into three time intervals were found; a trend of increasing textural complexity during mastication until a midway point followed by a decline emerged. Further research with larger samples is needed to support these findings. However, for the first time this work supports the use of simultaneous tasks in sensory evaluation and indicates the importance of temporality in direct ratings of complexity. Practical applications Simultaneous tasks are not commonly used in sensory evaluation, this research suggests their applicability and value; ultimately they may save time and money in research and product development. Direct ratings of sensory complexity are often reported prior to or after descriptive temporal evaluation; this may underestimate true perceived complexity, indicating the importance of considering temporal measures. Sensory complexity is considered an important sensory construct given its arousal potential; thus, identification of drivers of complexity may inform product development.