Herd-Health Environments Research & Design Journal最新文献

The therapeutic effects of biophilia have garnered increasing attention in hospital settings, as recent research highlights its impact on psychological metrics such as anxiety, depression, pain, and patient satisfaction. In their 2024 study, Guidolin et al. present compelling data supporting the role of nature exposure in improving patient outcomes. Building on this, we explore a possible link between biophilia and brain plasticity. The human brain's neuroplasticity, particularly adult hippocampal neurogenesis, responds dynamically to environmental stimuli, including enriched environments. Studies suggest that biophilic design, by integrating natural elements to built spaces, can positively influence brain function and mental health. Furthermore, interactions with nature may upregulate neurogenesis in the hippocampus, a region critical for memory and emotional regulation. These findings support the integration of biophilia as a potential non-pharmacological approach to enhance cognitive and psychological health. We propose that future architectural projects should leverage biophilic design to harness these therapeutic benefits, particularly in healthcare environments, to promote well-being and brain function.

Objective: This study aimed to explore children's preferences for the colors of furniture in consultation rooms to provide guidance for medical environment design, improving children's consultation experiences and reducing their anxiety and stress. Background: Color plays a crucial role in environmental design, especially in medical spaces. As a special group, children's medical environments should particularly emphasize humanization. Methods: This study assessed the Hue, Saturation, Value (HSV) preferences of children aged 3-15 for consultation room environments through an experiment where participants selected different color palettes based on displayed scene images. The experimental data were quantitatively analyzed. Results: The results indicated no significant difference between children's HSV preferences for furniture and walls in consultation rooms. Among these colors, children preferred a warm color with a saturation of 25 and a value of 75. Children's preference for colors increased with brightness. Among the three levels of saturation, the most preferred value was 25, followed by 75, with the lowest preference for 50. Age and gender also influenced HSV preferences. Older children preferred lower saturation values, while boys preferred higher saturation colors compared to girls. Conclusion: The study revealed that children's color preferences for consultation room furniture and walls were primarily focused on warm colors, high brightness, and specific saturation values. These findings can inform the design of medical environments, suggesting that furniture and walls in children's consultation rooms should preferably use warm colors with high brightness and moderate saturation to enhance children's comfort and satisfaction.

Objective: This paper describes the development and utilization of two design evaluation metrics aimed to measure design performance for improving circulation and workflow, situational awareness, and visibility for medication-related activities for anesthesia providers' within their workspace in operating rooms. Background: Proactive performance evaluation of the design of critical areas such as operating rooms can help improve the safety of patients and staff workflows. This paper builds on previous work on task-switching behaviors in anesthesia workspaces to develop performance-based design evaluation metrics for anesthesia providers' workspaces based on their tasks performed during the patient preparation, intra-operative, and post-operative phases of the surgery, considering the presence of multiple anesthesia providers. Methods: Pre-coded observational data for five ear, nose, and throat surgeries was analyzed to determine the task-location and task-durations for anesthesia providers while performing various medication-related tasks. The distance between task-locations and the frequency of anesthesia providers' movement between these locations informed the proximity metric, whereas the anesthesia providers' visibility of the patient and the vitals screen from these locations informed the visibility metric. These metrics were used to compare four anesthesia providers' workspace layouts: observed operating room, prototype operating room, and two newly developed design configurations A1 and A2. Results: The proximity metric suggests that layout A2 supported better circulation and workflow for anesthesia providers, whereas the visibility metric indicated that they had improved situational awareness in both A1 and A2. Conclusions: Both metrics can be used to proactively evaluate anesthesia providers' workspaces early in the design process, to improve patient care in future operating rooms.

Daylight and access to a view out are vital factors in improving patients' wellness, side by side healthcare providers' satisfaction and productivity in intensive care units (ICUs). Unfortunately, insufficient attention was paid to this issue in Palestine resulting in many ICU designs lacking the required daylight and access to view, which, in turn, negatively affects patients' wellness, increasing delirium incidence and sleep disorders. This study aims to assess the Palestinian hospitals' ICUs in terms of daylight and patients' access to view by conducting daylight measurements and field observations. The results show that the available ICU designs in Palestine do not provide adequate daylight and access to view for patients.

Aim: This study examined significant knowledge gaps in understanding walkability-livability relationships. Background: The concept of livability focuses on perceptions of neighborhood environments in relation to quality of life. As walkable communities become increasingly promoted for their health and environmental benefits, questions remain about how walkability affects perceived livability across individuals with various backgrounds and preferences. Methods: We conducted a retrospective study with residents relocated to a community that is not only walkable but also mixed-income in Austin, Texas, U.S. Surveys were used to capture their satisfaction with perceived livability (i.e., "a good place to live" and "a good place to raise children") and specific neighborhood features, and relevant personal, social, and environmental factors. We used (1) paired t-tests to examine pre-post move differences, (2) binary logistic regressions to predict perceived livability, and (3) multiple linear regressions to predict the pre-post differences in perceived livability. Results: Relocation to this community demonstrated improved satisfaction with two overall livability measures and specific neighborhood features related to convenient transportation, access to services, environmental quality, and social cohesion. Affordable housing residents had more consistent satisfaction and greater improvements, suggesting improved residential equality in this mixed-income community. Improvements in perceived crime safety, natural surroundings, walkable destinations, and air quality predicted improvement in both livability measures. Denser streets improved satisfaction with a good place to live but were insignificant for the change in satisfaction with a good place to raise children. Conclusions: More research is needed to address distinct population outcomes and livability specific to raising children.

This research explores the interplay among noise levels, thermal conditions, and lighting intensity in an intensive care unit (ICU), focusing on preserving circadian rhythm and promoting nighttime sleep to advance patient-centric care. This investigation assesses lighting levels (Lux), natural versus artificial light ratios, ICU room temperature, and correlations with acoustic data during a field research period and examines the collective impact of patient exposure to sleep linked to delirium and health outcomes, addressing critical gaps in understanding. Findings reveal that noise levels between 60 and 90 dB(A) during patient occupancy exceed sleep disruption thresholds, with daytime averages of 53.6 dB(A) and nighttime averages of 48.5 dB(A) surpassing recommended criteria. Temperature fluctuations, often outside the optimal sleep range, and suboptimal diurnal variations impact patient comfort and clinician challenges. Lux levels mostly fall short of the optimum range, affecting circadian rhythms. Temporal distinctions of these environmental factors directly impact clinicians and patients, with correlated spikes in noise, lighting, and temperature during admission periods requiring heightened attention for optimal care. These cumulative impacts necessitate clinicians to navigate challenges and ensure consistent and effective care. Patients experience sleep disruptions, highlighting the need for a holistic healthcare design addressing interconnected environmental dynamics. The findings underscore the importance of comprehensive approaches to healthcare design, optimizing the ICU environment for patient-centric care and supporting healthcare professionals' well-being. Recommendations include targeted interventions to improve sleep, reduce delirium incidence, and enhance recovery, advancing ICU design for better patient outcomes; and facilitating effective communication among healthcare practitioners.

Purpose: This article assesses the magnitude and impact of wayfinding problems in US hospitals as perceived by staff. Background: Problematic wayfinding in healthcare facilities is a persistent issue, leading to frustration, stress, fatigue, physical aggression, wasted time, and a negative organizational image. Despite anecdotal evidence, few studies have quantified the impacts of wayfinding problems. Methods: This descriptive cross-sectional study used an online questionnaire to gather data from hospital staff in the United States. The questionnaire targeted (1) wayfinding for hospital staff, (2) wayfinding for hospital visitors, (3) the impact of wayfinding problems on staff, and (4) the importance of addressing wayfinding problems. Data from 301 questionnaires were analyzed using descriptive and nonparametric statistics. Results: Staff found it easy to navigate their own departments but more difficult to navigate other departments. Staff's responses indicated that wayfinding was relatively difficult for visitors. Each staff member spent about 30 min per week on helping others with wayfinding. The five locations in which users needed the most assistance were the cafeteria, restrooms, elevators, exits, and main lobby. Staff commonly escorted people to a point from which they could independently reach their destination. Wayfinding difficulties could distract staff from their main duties and cause frustration. Nearly 44% of the participants experienced incivility from users who had become frustrated by wayfinding problems. Participants rated addressing wayfinding problems as very important. Conclusions: Despite the extensive literature on the environmental factors that influence wayfinding, this study finds that hospital visitors in the United States still struggle with wayfinding, which indicates a potential gap between design research and practice.

Objectives: This observational, pilot study investigated the impact of room layout (orientation of patient bed toward windows) and window features (blind positions) on patients' perceived anxiety and depression levels as well as analgesic medication intake in a cardiac intensive care unit (CICU).

Background: While room layout and window features in patient rooms can impact the effectiveness of windows, there is a paucity of research on how these features can alleviate coexisting symptoms of anxiety, depression, and pain among hospitalized CICU patients with heart disease.

Methodology: Blind positions, light, and temperature levels were recorded hourly in south-facing, windowed patient rooms of the same size with parallel or perpendicular patient bed placement to the window in a CICU. Anxiety scores, depression scores, and analgesic medication intake (mg) were obtained daily for 11 patients (22 observation days). Generalized linear models were employed to investigate the relationships between variables.

Results: Blind positions (open, semiopen, closed) varied throughout patients' CICU stay across the rooms. Linear models indicated that patients in rooms with predominantly open blinds (hourly frequency ≥ 50% per day) had significantly lower average anxiety (p = .004) and depression scores (p = .015), as well as reduced analgesic medication intake (p < .001) compared to those in rooms with closed blinds. The study found no significant relationships between different room layouts and the measured outcomes.

Conclusion: Findings underscore the importance of considering environmental factors, such as window features and room layout in CICUs, as nonmedical interventions to enhance patient health during hospitalization.