ACCESS TO VIEW AND THE ROLE OF SIGHT IN THE EVALUATION OF ARCHITECTURAL ENVIRONMENT OF PATIENT ROOM SETTINGS

Evangelia Sklavou, Ioannis Tzouvadakis

Saturday, January 9, 2016

Publication year:

2016

Authors:

• Sklavou Evangelia, Architect Eng., PhD Candidate, National Technical University of Athens, Greece
• Tzouvadakis Ioannis, Associate Professor, National Technical University of Athens, Greece

Keywords index:

• Architectural documentation
• evidencebased design
• healing environment
• user evaluation
• view

Pages: 219-248

DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.290636

Abstract:

Introduction View is fundamentally important to the healing process, well-being and consequently the cost of care. Unobstructed view has been connected to more frequent satisfaction and comfort, as well as higher threshold to discomfort. Τhe aim of the study was to investigate the role of sight in the evaluation of the architectural environment of patient room settings. Method View access in semi-private and six-bed patient rooms was investigated using architectural documentation and user survey. In addition, two research hypotheses were studied: first, user group and room capacity would influence view access evaluation and second, there would be a significant interrelation between access to the view and patient room ambience evaluation. The survey sample was α convenience one. Statistical analysis was performed in SPSS 20, using chi-square exact tests of independence. The chosen level of significance was p < 0.01. Results The sample studied comprised of 450 users, 53,8% patients and 46,2% visitors. 65.8% of the sample came from six-bed wards and 34.2% from double-bed wards. Regarding age, 17.8% were ≤ 30 years, 15.1% were 30 to 39 years, 20.4% were 40 to 49 years, 18.4% were 50 to 59 years and 28.2% were over 60 years while regarding gender, 54.2% were male and 45.8% were women. Three out of five participants reported ease of access and the rest felt impeded. The first hypothesis was partially confirmed, since ease of access was more frequent in semi-private patient rooms. The second hypothesis was confirmed, because access to the view significantly interacted with the patient room ambience evaluation. Conclusions Ease of access to the view was linked to more frequent positive evaluation and greater tolerance towards possible discomfort situations. There were indications that the existence of balcony doors, as opposed to conventional windows with sill, had some positive part in the results.