“Everything looks the same”: wayfinding behaviour and experiences of stroke inpatients in rehabilitation clinics

Abstract

Purpose To examine stroke inpatients’ real-life wayfinding behaviour and how the built environment of rehabilitation clinics might influence their behaviour and experiences. Methods Stroke inpatients in seven rehabilitation clinics were observed (n = 70), each over the course of 12 consecutive hours. Their paths through the clinic and the locations of encountered wayfinding-related events were mapped on the floor plans and described in the written notes. The observations were supplemented by a survey asking patients about their wayfinding experiences. Results For a third of observed patients, at least one wayfinding-related event was observed on the observation day, and 50% of patients reported getting lost in their clinic at least once. Most wayfinding-related events occurred between patient rooms and therapy rooms, and patients frequently relied on backtracking or the help of the staff to find their way. Clinics’ layout organization was found to play a role in the wayfinding behaviour of patients. Conclusions Wayfinding is a common challenge that stroke inpatients encounter in rehabilitation clinics. Avoiding multiple decision nodes on the paths between patient rooms and therapy rooms and creating distinct identities for corridor segments in the decision nodes and the areas in front of elevators would likely improve wayfinding performance.

The Assessment of Long-Term Care Environments for Wayfinding Design

“…Wayfinding is an essential skill that impacts a myriad of activities, from mundane, daily-traversed routes to infrequent but critical emergency situations (Kevdzija, 2022; Rabadi et al, 2008). Successful wayfinding is impacted by both personal factors (e.g., vision, mobility, repeated exposure, cognition) and environmental factors, such as the complexity of the setting, presence and design of environmental cues, and spatial layout factors (Iftikhar et al, 2021).…”

Impact of the built environment on stroke inpatient rehabilitation

“…If possible, facilities should have compact layouts since longer distances between different hospital areas have been shown to hinder patient mobility ( Kevdzija and Marquardt, 2022 ). Consideration should be given to the complexity and design of the building layout as stroke patients often have impaired navigation skills ( Claessen et al, 2017 ; Kevdzija, 2022 ). Furthermore, these environments should be assessed for safety to ensure that uneven flooring and obstacles are minimised.…”