Who wants control in the hospital room? Environmental control, desirability of control and stress / ¿Quién desea control en la habitación del hospital? Control ambiental, deseo de control y estrés

Abstract

Perceived control is a desirable quality in the healthcare environment to increase patients' well-being. However, recent research has demonstrated that perceived control did not predict stress. Based on the hypothesis that control does not always lead to better adjustment, and that it may depend on whether people want to have control, the aim of the current research was to examine the moderating role of individual differences in terms of desire for control. In an experiment, 150 participants were randomly assigned to one of two conditions. First we measured desirability of control; next we presented a scenario of a hypothetical hospitalization. Perceived control was manipulated by the stated presence or absence of an integrated remote device that allows adjustment of environmental features in the room. Results showed that having control over the room positively predicts stress reduction among people with high desirability for control, whereas among people with low desirability for control this relationship was not significant.

Psycho-environmental processes of hospital design and their role during the COVID-19 pandemic (Procesos psicoambientales del diseño de hospitales y su implicación durante la pandemia por COVID-19)

“…The institutional nature of hospital design affects both perceived stress (environment perceived as uncontrollable and harmful) and the negative impact experienced by patients and employees (Augustin, 2009; Ulrich et al, 2018). One way to reduce environmental stress is to make resources available to people so that they have greater control over the environment (Andrade & Devlin, 2016), adjusting light or noise volume (Zadeh et al, 2018), including positive distractions (such as reading, paintings, works of art) and promoting social interactions (perceived social support from family visits) (Andrade & Devlin, 2015; Ullán & Belver, 2021).…”

“…El carácter institucional del diseño de los hospitales afecta tanto al estrés percibido (percepción del entorno como incontrolable y nocivo) como al afecto negativo que experimentan pacientes y empleados (Augustin, 2009; Ulrich et al, 2018). Una manera de reducir el estrés ambiental es poner a disposición de las personas recursos para ejercer control sobre el entorno (Andrade & Devlin, 2016), modificando la luz o el volumen de ruido (Zadeh et al, 2018), incluyendo distracciones positivas (como lectura, pinturas, obras de arte) y promoviendo las interacciones sociales (como el apoyo social percibido al tener visitas de familiares) (Andrade & Devlin, 2015; Ullán & Belver, 2021).…”