Yu Clarissa, Weaver Sophie, Walker Meaghan, Hess Julia, Mac Amanda, Ross Timothy
Bloorview Research Institute, Holland Bloorview Kids Rehabilitation Hospital, Toronto, ON, Canada.
Department of Geography & Planning, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada.
Front Rehabil Sci. 2024 May 30;5:1415609. doi: 10.3389/fresc.2024.1415609. eCollection 2024.
Play spaces are important components of paediatric healthcare environments. They provide children with critical opportunities to experience the social, emotional, and developmental benefits of play while in healthcare settings for appointments or hospitalizations. These spaces can help to mitigate stress, provide a sense of normalcy in unfamiliar environments, and facilitate social engagement for children and their families. Given the benefits of play spaces in paediatric healthcare settings, it is important to understand how these spaces can be designed to enhance children's inclusion and quality of care. The aim of this scoping review was to explore the current understanding of paediatric play space design. Using search terms related to children, health care, and play space, six interdisciplinary databases were searched over a 30-year period. The search found 2,533 records from which eighteen were included for review. Findings suggest that although it is well-documented that play spaces offer valuable social and emotional benefits, little is known about the specific design features that can and should be incorporated to enhance play opportunities and ensure that they benefit all children and families. Further, the literature mostly considers play spaces in the context of designated play or recreational rooms. Scholars are encouraged to consider how play opportunities can be incorporated into the designs of paediatric healthcare environments beyond the boundaries of these rooms. Future studies should also consider the diversity of play space users, including children of varying ages and abilities, to create more accessible and inclusive paediatric play spaces for children and their families. Advancing knowledge on play space design can help to optimize the quality of these important spaces and to ensure their designs meaningfully enhance children's play experiences and quality of care.
游戏空间是儿科医疗环境的重要组成部分。它们为儿童提供了关键机会，使其在接受预约诊疗或住院治疗的医疗环境中体验游戏带来的社会、情感和发展益处。这些空间有助于减轻压力，在陌生环境中营造一种正常感，并促进儿童及其家庭的社交互动。鉴于游戏空间在儿科医疗环境中的益处，了解如何设计这些空间以提高儿童的融入度和护理质量非常重要。本范围综述的目的是探索当前对儿科游戏空间设计的理解。使用与儿童、医疗保健和游戏空间相关的搜索词，在30年的时间里检索了六个跨学科数据库。搜索共找到2533条记录，其中18条被纳入综述。研究结果表明，尽管有充分记录表明游戏空间能带来宝贵的社会和情感益处，但对于能够且应该纳入哪些具体设计特征以增加游戏机会并确保它们惠及所有儿童和家庭，人们知之甚少。此外，文献大多是在指定游戏或娱乐室的背景下考虑游戏空间。鼓励学者思考如何在这些房间之外的儿科医疗环境设计中融入游戏机会。未来的研究还应考虑游戏空间使用者的多样性，包括不同年龄和能力的儿童，以便为儿童及其家庭创造更便于使用和更具包容性的儿科游戏空间。增进对游戏空间设计的了解有助于优化这些重要空间的质量，并确保其设计切实提升儿童的游戏体验和护理质量。
