Search

Aim This review will identify, evaluate and synthesize the literature related to evidence‐based design of healthcare environments and to identify impacts of the built environment on the outcomes and experiences of patients, significant others and staff. Design A mixed‐method systematic review of literature 2010–2018. Methods Database searches for evidence in peer‐reviewed journals will be conducted electronically using CINAHL, Medline, SCOPUS and Web of Science. Abstract, full‐text screening and data extraction will be completed independently by the reviewers. Quality assessment will follow Swedish Agency for Health Technology Assessment and Social Services Assessment. Results This review will offer knowledge for informed decisions about the design of the healthcare environment. The review is comprehensive, includes a large volume of literature various research designs and will highlight the knowledge gap in evidence‐based design and provide a breadth of knowledge about the built environments and its impact on health and well‐being.

Background Nurses working in hospital environments are at risk for burnout. Exposure to nature has psychological benefits, but the effect of hospital gardens on nurse burnout is less understood. Objective To compare the effect on nurse burnout of taking daily work breaks in a hospital-integrated garden with the effect of indoor-only breaks. Methods A prospective crossover trial was conducted of nurses assigned to either 6 weeks of a work break in an outdoor hospital garden or 6 weeks of indoor-only breaks. After a 1-week washout period, break assignments were switched for a subsequent 6 weeks. The Maslach Burnout Inventory was administered at the beginning and end of each 6-week period, and a Present Functioning Visual Analogue Scale was completed at the start and end of each break to capture immediate psychological symptoms. Change scores were analyzed by using generalized estimating equations. Results For 29 nurses, for garden compared with indoor breaks, significant improvement was apparent in scores on the Maslach Burnout Inventory subscales for emotional exhaustion (4.5 vs -0.2; P < .001) and depersonalization (1.8 vs 0.0; P = .02) but not for personal accomplishment (-0.6 vs -0.0; P = .55). Compared with indoor breaks, total symptom scores on the Present Functioning Visual Analog Scale improved significantly when nurses took a break in the garden (garden vs indoor breaks, 4.0 vs 2.4; P = .04). Conclusions Taking daily work breaks in an outdoor garden may be beneficial in mitigating burnout for nurses working in hospital environments.

The article describes a conceptual model proposing that aggression in psychiatric facilities may be reduced by designing the physical environment with ten evidence-grounded stress-reducing features. The model was tested in a newer hospital in Sweden having wards with nine of the ten features. Data on two clinical markers of aggressive behavior, compulsory injections and physical restraints, were compared with data from an older facility (replaced by the newer hospital) that had only one stress-reducing feature. Another hospital with one feature, which did not change during the study period, served as a control. The proportion of patients requiring injections declined (p

Objectives: Measure the immediate change in intensive care unit (ICU) family members’ state stress levels from the beginning to the end of a person’s visit to a hospital garden and compare the changes produced by the garden with those associated with spending time in indoor hospital environments intended for respite and relaxation. Background: No previous research has compared the efficacy of different physical environments as interventions to foster stress reduction in family members of ICU patients, a group of hospital visitors known to experience high levels of distress. Method: A convenience sample of 42 ICU patient family (from 42 different families) completed the Present Functioning Visual Analogue Scales (PFVAS) before and after each visit (128 total visits) to a garden, an atrium/café, or ICU waiting room. Results: Stress scores significantly declined (i.e., improved) from the start to the end of a break on all PFVAS subscales ( p < .0001) in both the garden and indoors locations. However, it is noteworthy that garden breaks resulted in significantly greater improvement in the “sadness” scale than breaks in indoor locations ( p = .03), and changes in all five other PFVAS scores showed somewhat more reduction of stress for breaks spent in the garden than indoors, although these differences were not statistically significant. Conclusion: Creating an unlocked garden with abundant nature located close to an ICU can be an effective intervention for significantly mitigating state stress in family members of ICU patients and can be somewhat more effective than indoor areas expressly designed for family respite and relaxation.

ObjectiveHealthcare-oriented design in hospitals can promote better clinical outcomes. Creating optimal facilities may increase treatment effects. We investigated the influence of the treatment room on effects of exercise therapy.MethodsIn a mixed-method randomised controlled double-blind trial, middle-aged individuals reporting knee or hip pain performed 8 weeks of exercise therapy in (1) a newly built physically enhanced environment, (2) a standard environment or (3) were waitlisted, receiving no intervention. Participants and therapists were blind to study aim. Primary outcome was participants’ Global Perceived Effect (GPE; seven-point Likert scale). Six nested focus group interviews with participants (n=25) and individual interviews with therapists (n=2) explored experiences of the environments.Results42 people exercised in the physically enhanced environment, 40 in the standard environment, 21 were waitlisted. Contrary to our hypothesis, the treatment response seemed greater in the standard environment for GPE (0.98, 95% CI0.5 to 1.4) than for the physically enhanced environment (0.37, 95% CI −0.2 to 0.9), between-group difference (0.61, 95% CI −0.1 to 1.3) did not reach statistical significance (p=0.07). Waitlist group reported no improvement (−0.05 95% CI −0.5 to 0.4). In interviews, participants from the standard environment expressed greater social cohesion and feeling at home. Qualitative themes identified; reflection, sense of fellowship and transition. Secondary patient-reported outcomes and qualitative findings supported the primary finding, while improvements in muscle strength and aerobic capacity did not differ between exercise groups.ConclusionResults suggest that the physical environment contributes to treatment response. Matching patients’ preferences to treatment rooms may improve patient-reported outcomes.Trial registration numberClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT02043613.

One of my greatest pleasures (and a potent stress reliever) is to walk in the Japanese gardens near my home in Portland, Oregon. When I heard about the work being done at a local hospital with the use of a healing garden for mothers and their families, I was so impressed I had to share it. Today&#39

Literature on healthcare architecture and evidence-based design has rarely considered explicitly that patient outcomes may be worsened by intra-hospital transport (IHT), which is defined as transport of patients within the hospital. The article focuses on the effects of IHTs on patient complications and outcomes, and the implications of such impacts for designing safer, better hospitals. A review of 22 scientific studies indicates that IHTs are subject to a wide range of complications, many of which occur frequently and have distinctly detrimental effects on patient stability and outcomes. The research suggests that higher patient acuity and longer transport durations are associated with more frequent and serious IHT-related complications and outcome effects. It appears no rigorous research has compared different hospital designs and layouts with respect to having possibly differential effects on transport-related complications and worsened outcomes. Nonetheless, certain design implications can be extracted from the existing research literature, including the importance of minimizing transport delays due to restricted space and congestion, and creating layouts that shorten IHT times for high-acuity patients. Limited evidence raises the possibility that elevator-dependent vertical building layouts may increase susceptibility to transport delays that worsen complications. The strong evidence indicating that IHTs trigger complications and worsen outcomes suggests a powerful justification for adopting acuity-adaptable rooms and care models that substantially reduce transports. A program of studies is outlined to address gaps in knowledge.Key WordsPatient transports, transports within hospitals, patient safety, evidence-based design, hospital design, healthcare architecture, intra-hospital transport complications, acuity-adaptable care, elevators, outcomes.