Comprehensibility of universal healthcare symbols for wayfinding in healthcare facilities

Lee, Seunghae; Dazkir, Sibel Seda; Paik, Hae Sun; Coşkun, Aykut

doi:10.1016/j.apergo.2013.11.003

Cited by 55 publications

(50 citation statements)

References 3 publications

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“…One approach to increase cross-cultural comprehension in healthcare settings is to use universal healthcare symbols [65]. Lee et al [65] showed that some symbols are well understood cross-culturally (for billing, ob clinic, and radiology), whereas others are not (for pharmacy, immunization, and family medicine).…”

Section: Wayfindingmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Lee et al [65] showed that some symbols are well understood cross-culturally (for billing, ob clinic, and radiology), whereas others are not (for pharmacy, immunization, and family medicine). Their research included participants from the US, South Korea, and Turkey; countries were chosen to reflect “three distinct cultures” [65] (p. 879). Moreover, the symbols were taken from the set developed in the Hablamos Juntos (“we speak together”) project, funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, to develop a set of universal healthcare symbols.…”

Section: Wayfindingmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Wayfinding in Healthcare Facilities: Contributions from Environmental Psychology

Devlin

2014

Behavioral Sciences

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The ability to successfully navigate in healthcare facilities is an important goal for patients, visitors, and staff. Despite the fundamental nature of such behavior, it is not infrequent for planners to consider wayfinding only after the fact, once the building or building complex is complete. This review argues that more recognition is needed for the pivotal role of wayfinding in healthcare facilities. First, to provide context, the review presents a brief overview of the relationship between environmental psychology and healthcare facility design. Then, the core of the article covers advances in wayfinding research with an emphasis on healthcare environments, including the roles of plan configuration and manifest cues, technology, and user characteristics. Plan configuration and manifest cues, which appeared early on in wayfinding research, continue to play a role in wayfinding success and should inform design decisions. Such considerations are joined by emerging technologies (e.g., mobile applications, virtual reality, and computational models of wayfinding) as a way to both enhance our theoretical knowledge of wayfinding and advance its applications for users. Among the users discussed here are those with cognitive and/or visual challenges (e.g., Down syndrome, age-related decrements such as dementia, and limitations of vision). In addition, research on the role of cross-cultural comprehension and the effort to develop a system of universal healthcare symbols is included. The article concludes with a summary of the status of these advances and directions for future research.

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Section: Wayfindingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Wayfindingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Wayfinding in Healthcare Facilities: Contributions from Environmental Psychology

Devlin

2014

Behavioral Sciences

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“…As familiarity also plays a role in understanding visual aids, pictogram testing is required to determine its appropriateness [ 16 , 18 ]. Given most pictograms have been designed within Western societies, caution is suggested when using them in cross-cultural contexts [ 9 , 19 , 20 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Assessing the Understanding of Pharmaceutical Pictograms among Cultural Minorities: The Example of Hindu Individuals Communicating in European Portuguese

Kanji

Cavaco

2018

Pharmacy

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One of the sources of poor health outcomes is the lack of compliance with the prescribed treatment plans, often due to communication barriers between healthcare professionals and patients. Pictograms are a form of communication that conveys meaning through its pictorial resemblance to a physical object or an action. Pharmaceutical pictograms are often associated with a better comprehension of treatment regimens, although their use is still subject to limitations. The main goal of this study was to examine the potential understanding of pharmaceutical pictograms by a cultural minority when providing patient information while comparing the effectiveness of two reference systems (United States Pharmacopeia USP and International Pharmacy Federation FIP) for this purpose. A self-administered questionnaire was developed comprising 30 pictograms, 15 selected from the United States Pharmacopeia Dispensing Information and the equivalent from the International Pharmaceutical Federation. The questionnaire comprised plain instructions, socio-demographic data, self-reported language fluency and pictogram labels in Portuguese presented to conveniently selected members of the Hindu community of Lisbon (Portugal) until reaching a quota of 50. Participants showed difficulties in understanding some pictograms, which was related to the self-reported reduced fluency in Portuguese. Overall, the interpretation of USP pictograms was better than FIP ones, as well as for pictograms composed of multiple images, presenting a negative reading, or when conveying information unrelated to medication instructions. Even using internationally validated pictograms, added care should be taken when community pharmacists use such communication resources with cultural minorities. It is important not to disregard other forms of patient communication and information, considering pictograms as a complement to other forms of patient counselling.

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“…HC facilities are often complex environments in which wayfinding can prove difficult (Lee et al, 2014). As a result of several renovation projects carried out during the years, the hospitals had become more complex and hence significant logistics and navigation challenges had arisen in both hospitals.…”

Section: Logistics Wayfinding and Information Technologymentioning

confidence: 99%

Insight into healthcare design: lessons learned in two university hospitals

Reijula

2016

JFM

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If you would like to write for this, or any other Emerald publication, then please use our Emerald for Authors service information about how to choose which publication to write for and submission guidelines are available for all. Please visit www.emeraldinsight.com/authors for more information. About Emerald www.emeraldinsight.comEmerald is a global publisher linking research and practice to the benefit of society. The company manages a portfolio of more than 290 journals and over 2,350 books and book series volumes, as well as providing an extensive range of online products and additional customer resources and services.Emerald is both COUNTER 4 and TRANSFER compliant. The organization is a partner of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) and also works with Portico and the LOCKSS initiative for digital archive preservation. AbstractPurpose -Hospitals in the developed countries have been subjected to increasing economic pressure. Thus, several hospitals have been forced to improve their production efficiency while coping with limited resources. This paper aims to illustrate challenges and insight associated with health care (HC) facility design (FD) in two publicly funded hospitals. Design/methodology/approach -In this study, 14 interviewees from two Finnish university hospitals were interviewed. Both hospitals had implemented Lean methods and recently undergone rigorous renovation projects and were seen as ideal study targets. Findings -Both hospitals had managed to carry out successful indoor environment design. However, logistics, navigation, health information technology, scheduling, budgeting and outsourcing challenges had arisen. An outpatient care approach and customer-driven operational needs are beneficial and guide FD in the target hospitals. Lean thinking offers the necessary fundamental framework for integrating operational design as a part of FD. Research limitations/implications -Due to the relatively small sample size of the interviewees in this study, post occupancy evaluations in a larger target group should be conducted in the present hospitals. Furthermore, the communication with the interviewees may be considered qualitative due to the research approach based on interviews and content analysis. Practical implications -Hospital design should focus on developing aesthetic, durable and adaptable facilities that support work processes. The hospital management needs to ensure that architects and designers possess enough HC expertize and are able to interact with clinicians. FD projects should be led and organized more systematically, while project communication between all stakeholders should be more transparent and facilitated by -preferably -a hospital staff member. Furthermore, an organized forum for HC FD should be used for sharing knowledge. The clinicians must be thoroughly oriented to the new work environment and processes. Originality/value -This paper brings forth numerous crucial challenges and insight related to management of FD in two university hospitals.

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Comprehensibility of universal healthcare symbols for wayfinding in healthcare facilities

Cited by 55 publications

References 3 publications

Wayfinding in Healthcare Facilities: Contributions from Environmental Psychology

Wayfinding in Healthcare Facilities: Contributions from Environmental Psychology

Assessing the Understanding of Pharmaceutical Pictograms among Cultural Minorities: The Example of Hindu Individuals Communicating in European Portuguese

Insight into healthcare design: lessons learned in two university hospitals

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