Design Models for Single Patient Rooms Tested for Patient Preferences

Abstract

Using 3D design models, this study aims to better involve patients in the design of hospitals by investigating what physical environmental characteristics in hospital patient rooms are valued by patients. There is a plea for shared-decision-making and collaborative design processes with representatives from healthcare and the construction sector based on evidence and end users’ perspectives. Existing research is hampered by poor conceptualization of environmental design factors, as these are differently operationalized between medical and technological sciences. Architects communicate through visuals, whereas medical professionals and researchers tend to communicate in words. By using 3D-modeling to research the relationship between health and well-being on the one hand, and the affordances the built environment offers, this knowledge gap can be better addressed. Two hundred four respondents, 60% patients and 40% medical professionals, engaged in discrete choice experiments visualizing a single patient room. A main finding is that patients and medical professionals consistently choose for hospital rooms with the highest amount of daylight access. What this study adds is that the orientation of the windows matters as well. Horizontal windows, allowing for a panoramic view, were twice as much chosen than were vertical windows. Another important finding concerns patients’ preferences for an open door, suggesting patients prefer to stay “connected” to the outside world. This study is important as it shows, empirically, that patients may make different choices if in research the rooms are better conceptualized and thus visualized and if multiple design features are assessed as configuration rather than using a sequential, “one-design-characteristic-after-another” approach.

Patients’ and Nurses’ Experiences of All Single-Room Hospital Accommodation: A Scoping Review

“…They found that the lack of control over the environment and the inability to regulate working conditions affect the nurses’ experiences of quality in care and thereby their working environment (Ulrich et al, 2008). Van Oel et al (2021) report on patients’ and nurses’ different interpretations of privacy. Patients felt that they had privacy when staying in a single room regardless of whether the door was open or not.…”

Comparison of experiences of nursing staff and patients before and after move to 100% single-bed room hospital in Australia: mixed methods

“…In Stage 2, nurses acknowledged that the single-bed rooms are conducive to better sleep due to fewer sounds within the single bed-room. This view was supported by findings that single-bed rooms provide a more restful environment due to less noise and did improve patients’ sleep [ 6 , 11 , 18 , 21 , 22 ].…”

Moving Toward Person-Centered Care: Valuing Emotions in Hospital Design and Architecture

“…Valuing emotions in hospital spaces, therefore, also means valuing the active participation of its users, be it from the design of “inconsequential” objects such as hospital closets to the redesign of waiting areas, hospital rooms, and gardens. To do this in a practical way, van Oel et al (2021) have proposed that we take into account the differing ways of communicating in design decisions between hospital users (mainly verbal or written expression) and architects and designers (mainly visual expression). Likewise, Devlin et al (2016) have shown the importance of qualitative approaches to better understand how hospital design, in particular in the hospital room, affects patients’ well-being and satisfaction.…”