The environmental factors affecting service satisfaction of community hospital

Abstract

Community Hospital in Thailand is a small-size hospital and available at a 'local level. Established by the Thai government some thirty years ago, the hospitals now find their facilities are unable to cope with increasing numbers of patients due to population growth. The re-furbishment of the old buildings in the hospital was needed in order to respond to these changes. Past extensions to the hospitals have focused more on form and function of the built environment rather than "needs" of the users (patients/family). However, research has shown that there are multiple aspects that affect a positive user experience in a hospital. This is especially true for the environmental aspect, which helps patients feel more comfortable and relaxed both mentally and physically when using community hospital services. There is a need therefore, to establish which of the environmental factors are important to a positive user experience. In this study, factors related to the built environment and their effect on the user experience were broadly categorized as Ambient Features, Architectural Features, Interior Design Features and Outdoor Environment Features. Each of these consisted of further sub-categories of importance to the user. Twenty users of Sara Phi Community Hospital were interviewed to determine what was important to them as users of the hospital. This hospital was chosen for convenience. The AHP model was used to establish a rank order of those factors considered important in determining user satisfaction. In-depth interview and questionnaires provided data for final analysis. The study found that Ambient Features had the highest impact score (0.343) followed by Architectural Features (0.260), Interior Design Features (0.224) and Outdoor Environment Features (0.173). The secondary factors that make up the main factors were ranked according to their weighted contribution to overall satisfaction. The paper discusses these factors with support for the respective rank. Suggestions are made for future development of this strategy of investigation

Comparison of Outpatient Satisfaction Measures Across Hospitals Built to a Thai Standard Design

“…Interior design features include: art works, plants (nature), television, color scheme, furniture, and signage. This model was also used by Pongyen & Waroonkun (2015) and Waroonkun (2018), with the addition of a further category: 'outdoor environment features'. Outdoor environment features relate to those services and activities that are not part of the actual waiting area but are considered to be part of the OPD users experience and to have an impact on users' level of anxiety/comfort.…”

“…Figure 2. The hierarchy structure of environmental factors in a hospital building (Harris et al, 2002;Waroonkun, 2018) Considering the role of 'stress' in a 'supportive environment', it is important that the hospital environment should not exacerbate any stress experienced by an outpatient user but rather be designed to reduce such stress. Community hospital users' satisfaction with features of the physical environment will be influenced by the extent to which those features can mitigate their feelings of stress.…”

Preventing the spread of COVID-19 through environmental design in Thai community hospitals

“…During the COVID outbreak, the whole community hospital infrastructure was overwhelmed with a high number of patients, causing hygiene and safety standards to become a priority in every hospital. However, the current hygiene standards are outdated and the hospitals were not prepared for the spread of unprecedented respiratory infectious diseases, leading to low-efficiency services in the hospitals (Waroonkun, 2018).…”

“…3130 (Figure 1); most of the buildings were built in the 1990s. A recent study conducted by Waroonkun (2018) revealed that most community hospital OPD buildings are obsolete and require rebuilding or renovation. The study also demonstrated that most of the buildings have been through multiple renovations without considering the hygiene standards that would have helped in preventing the spread of COVID-19 (Thailand Ministry of Public Health, 2017;Thailand Ministry of Public Health, 2020).…”

Design Consideration for Window Placement to Provide the View within the Patient's Visual Range

“…This study addresses how the limited visual capacity of the patient needs to be considered in providing the patients with the view of the natural outdoor environment. Research has suggested that the outdoor view has an impact on the patient's healing and recovery process (Waroonkun, 2018). Patients assigned to the room with a windows view tend to experience faster recovery, show fewer complaints, and require fewer doses of the medicine than the patients in the room without a windows view (Ulrich, 1984).…”