Supportive or Hindering Physical Environments in Hospital Units Dealing With COVID-19 Patients.

PURPOSE

This project was designed to discover how hospital units with COVID-19 patients influenced staff's medical practices and health conditions.

BACKGROUND

Although hospital environments have well-known associations with health outcomes, findings are limited in demonstrating the role of physical environments during a global pandemic.

METHODS

A cross-sectional survey study was conducted from three units in a university hospital and a total of 113 staff participated. They rated the impact of physical environments on staff members' medical practice and their health conditions before and mid-pandemic. They also specified physical changes, hindering and helpful features, and future improvements in open-ended questions.

RESULTS

The perceived supportiveness of the physical environments on communication significantly dropped from before-pandemic to midpandemic, followed by mental health and feeling of connection and engagement. Separating COVID-19 patients helped staff workflow, but staff felt disconnected and had poor visibility.

CONCLUSION

Based on painful lessons, interdisciplinary researchers, including healthcare professionals, designers, and administrators, should further collaborate to create supportive hospital environments.