Jiang Shan, Powers Matthew, Allison David, Vincent Ellen
1 School of Design and Community Development, West Virginia University, Morgantown, WV, USA.
2 Department of Landscape Architecture, Clemson University, Clemson, SC, USA.
HERD. 2017 Jul;10(4):49-63. doi: 10.1177/1937586716675581. Epub 2016 Nov 15.
This study aimed to explore people's visual preference for waiting areas in general hospital environments designed with transparency attributes that fully integrate nature.
Waiting can be a tedious and frustrating experience among people seeking healthcare treatments and negatively affect their perception of the quality of care. Positive distractions and supportive designs have gained increasing attraction to improve people's waiting experience. Nature, which has shown therapeutic effects according to a growing amount of evidence, could be a distinguished positive distraction in waiting areas. Additionally, the theory of transparency was operationalized to indicate a spatial continuity between the external nature and the built interiors in general healthcare waiting area design.
A survey method was adopted in the study. Twenty-one images of general healthcare waiting areas depicting three design typologies were preselected following a strict procedure, including designs with (a) no window views, (b) limited window views to nature, and (c) transparent spaces with maximum natural views. Ninety-five student participants rated the images based on their visual preference using a Likert-type scale.
The results showed that transparent waiting areas were significantly preferred. A significant positive relationship existed between the level of transparency and people's preference scores. The factor analysis indicated additional supportive features that may affect people's preferences, including daylight, perceived warmth, noninstitutional furniture arrangement, visual orientation, and the use of natural materials for interior design. However, these tentative results need to be furthered tested with the real patient population as the next step of this study.
本研究旨在探讨人们对综合医院环境中具有充分融合自然的透明属性的候诊区的视觉偏好。
在寻求医疗治疗的人群中，等待可能是一种乏味且令人沮丧的经历，并会对他们对护理质量的认知产生负面影响。积极的干扰因素和支持性设计越来越受到关注，以改善人们的等待体验。根据越来越多的证据表明具有治疗效果的自然，可能是候诊区一种显著的积极干扰因素。此外，透明度理论被用于表明在一般医疗候诊区设计中外部自然与室内建筑之间的空间连续性。
本研究采用调查方法。按照严格程序预先选择了21张描绘三种设计类型的综合医疗候诊区图像，包括(a)无窗外景观、(b)有限的自然窗外景观和(c)具有最大自然景观的透明空间的设计。95名学生参与者使用李克特量表根据他们的视觉偏好对图像进行评分。
结果表明，透明候诊区明显更受青睐。透明度水平与人们的偏好得分之间存在显著的正相关关系。因素分析表明了可能影响人们偏好的其他支持性特征，包括日光、感知温暖度、非机构化的家具布置、视觉导向以及室内设计中天然材料的使用。然而，作为本研究的下一步，这些初步结果需要在实际患者群体中进一步测试。
