Spatial attributes of hospital multi‐bed wards and preferences for privacy

Abstract

Purpose -The purpose of this article is to explore the relationship between measures of the plan configuration of buildings (in this case multi-bed wards), and subjective judgements on spatial locations for privacy. Design/methodology/approach -Measures of plan configuration from six generic ward designs have been made using space syntax software (visibility graph analysis and depth map). Subjective judgements have been assessed by means of a questionnaire. Findings -Participants' chosen locations for privacy have been shown to have a systematic relationship with spatial properties of the ward plans. At a ward level the designs with low integration and high control were chosen. At the bed location lower values of integration and control were selected.Research limitations/implications -In this study one facet of privacy (i.e. spatial location) has been investigated. These findings now need to be extended to studies involving environmental simulations, visibility and three-dimensional awareness of spaces as experienced by hospital users. In addition further analysis will be carried out at an individual design level and the possibility of subgroups of people with different preferences will be explored. Practical implications -Space syntax has a complicated theoretical and methodological approach to spatial measures. Many designers or architects may not be prepared to try to understand the implications. Originality/value -At a general level there is little in the literature on the implications of plan form for the subjective experiences of people in buildings. At a specific level about privacy in wards, no evidence could be found that these systematic findings have been reported before.

Network of Spaces and Interaction-Related Behaviors in Adult Intensive Care Units

“…As a result, the findings of these studies in dealing with the relationships between the network of spaces, on the one hand, and psychological responses and behavior, on the other, are less context-dependent and more generalizable [1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12]. Several space syntax studies to date, including the ones reported here, show strong relationships between spatial network measures and environmental behavior and psychology.…”

“…In their earlier study using integration and control, Alalouch and Aspinall [1] investigated locational effects on perceived privacy in six different types of multi-bed units in the UK. A group of 79 subjects were asked to complete a questionnaire on privacy and to select preferred and disliked locations on plans of hospital wards.…”

“…Later, using the additional data collected during the study reported in Alalouch and Aspinall [1], Alalouch et al [2] investigated the effect of age, gender, previous experience of space and cultural background on people’s chosen spatial location for privacy. Spatial data for this more recent study were provided by Visibility Graph Analysis (VGA) of space syntax [15].…”

Research on nursing unit layouts: an integrative review

“…Alalouch & Aspinall (2007) investigated perceived privacy in nursing units in relation to spatial centrality measured using Space Syntax techniques in six different types of multi-bed units in UK.…”

Design Criteria for Privacy-Sensitive Healthcare Buildings

“…Additionally, patient's preferences for privacy seems to be neglected by the surveyed documents. In a previous study Alalouch et al [33], [34] found that two quantitative measures of the spatial configuration of generic hospital wards -i.e. integration and control-are associated with people preferences for locational privacy.…”