Bedroom size and social interaction of the psychiatric ward.

Abstract

The appropriate bedroom size in a psychiatric ward poses a question that constantly plagues designers, administrators, and physicians. Historically, solutions have ranged through almost all possible combinations. In the past, the major conflicting pressures in arriving at a solution have been costswhich dictated large, multiple-occupancy rooms-and therapeutic considerations-which argued in favor of single or small rooms. Recent developments in design and construction techniques, however, have tended to diminish cost differences, while at the same time new therapeutic approaches have pointed to possible advantages of larger rooms. [A preliminary report on studies of bedroom size, Ittelson, Proshansky, & Rivlin, 1970, has already been published.] SETTINGThe study reported here was conducted in the psychiatric wards of three large metropolitan hospitals which will be referred to as "private," "city," and "state." Two are devoted to providing general medical and surgical services for their patients, and each has a relatively small psychiatric service: in the William H. Ittelson received his PhD in 1950 from Princeton University. He is currently a Professor of Environmental Psychology and Codirector of the doctoral program in environmental psychology of the Graduate Division of the City University of New York.Harold M. Proshansky received his PhD in social psychology from New York University in 1952. He is currently a Professor of Environmental Psychology and Social Psychology in the Graduate Division of the City University of New York, where he also serves as Dean of the division. His major research during the last 10 to 12 years has been in the field of environmental psychology, with particular interest in privacy and territoriality in hospital, school, and other urban settings.

Early Steps in Automated Behavior Mapping via Indoor Sensors

“…One of the earliest studies conducted on indoor spaces utilized behavior mapping to show differences in social interaction between patients in single-, double- and multiple-occupancy rooms [ 6 ]. Moore used behavior mapping to study the differences in the use of the outdoors, with emphasis on differences in the outdoor behavior of girls and boys after the reconstruction of a playground [ 7 ]. The method was widely used in studying outdoor settings such as outdoor children’s museums and neighborhood parks due to its unobtrusive applicability in public spaces [ 4 ].…”

“…A literature review carried out in the mid-1980s indicated that the use of behavioral tables for data collection with regard to indoor settings was a popular method at that period [ 11 ]. In work on hospitals, behavioral tables were adopted instead of a plan layout [ 7 ]. Similarly, in more recent research on hospitals, behavioral tables have been preferred for recording data during observation cycles [ 12 , 13 ].…”

Fertile Ground for Community: Inner‐City Neighborhood Common Spaces

“…Each of the environmental features affecting NSTs has also been shown to affect the quantity and qual-ity of informal social contact among neighbors. Crowded, high-density living conditions have been linked to social withdrawal (Baum & Valins, 1979;Ittelson, Proshansky, & Rivlin, 1970). High-crime settings are associated with neighbors staying home (Rohe & Burby, 1988) and avoiding local social contact (Conklin, 1971).…”

Satisfaction with care in a Brazilian psychiatric inpatient unit: differences in perceptions among patients according to type of health insurance

“…38 This is because patients can opt for a private space, and yet they can also often leave the room, unlike patients staying in rooms with other patients who may isolate themselves searching for privacy. 39 Other structural and design changes also influence the patients and the team, including the well-being of the users -an important outcome in health. 33,37 This study has several limitations.…”