scholarly journals Inpatients’ Spatial Experience: Interactions Between Material, Social, and Time-Related Aspects

2018 ◽  
Vol 21 (4) ◽  
pp. 495-511 ◽  
Author(s):  
Margo Annemans ◽  
Chantal Van Audenhove ◽  
Hilde Vermolen ◽  
Ann Heylighen
Keyword(s):  
Built Environment ◽  
Social Organization ◽  
Significant Role ◽  
Hospital Environment ◽  
Patient Centered ◽  
Spatial Experience ◽  
Hospital Environments ◽  
Hospital Boards ◽  
Nuanced Understanding ◽  
Insight Into

For inpatients who spend a longer time in the hospital, the built environment plays a significant role in their experience. While many hospital boards aim to create a patient-centered hospital, few have a specific idea about what this means in terms of spatial qualities. This creates a major challenge for those involved in designing hospital environments. Therefore, we aimed to identify which elements play a role in inpatients’ spatial experience, and how these elements relate and interact. Patients were followed during transport and afterward interviewed. In this way, we gained insight into their spatial experience, static, and in motion. This experience turns out to be shaped by material, social, and time-related aspects. An analysis of the interactions between these aspects yields a nuanced understanding of how inpatients’ experience of the hospital environment is shaped by the spatial and social organization, movement, and perspective. This understanding should allow informing hospital boards, architects, and staff to start designing hospital buildings in a more patient-centered way.

scholarly journals Return on investment of a LEED platinum hospital: the influence of healthcare facility environments on healthcare employees and organizational effectiveness

2014 ◽  
Vol 3 (6) ◽  
pp. 37 ◽  
Author(s):  
Debra D Harris
Keyword(s):  
Built Environment ◽  
Employee Engagement ◽  
Human Resource ◽  
Well Being ◽  
The United States ◽  
Cost Of Care ◽  
Hospital Environment ◽  
Hospital Environments ◽  
Employee Data

Objective: The purpose of this research study was to link hospital environments to the quality of care and the associated cost of care by examining the relationship among hospital environments and healthcare employee engagement, turnover, illness and injury. Methods: This study used a multi-method research design and quantitative analysis of data sets from participating hospitals. Data included employee survey responses and human resource employee data provided by the hospital system. All statistical tests used an alpha level of .05. The analysis of the survey and human resource employee data tested for significant differences among employees at the participating hospitals; and used correlations and regression analysis to determine the direction and strength of the relationships where significant differences were evident. Results: Results from the survey indicated that perceptions of the built environment affect employee engagement and health and well-being up to 14%. Turnover and injury reductions were significant and resulted in substantial cost differences; $2.17M cost reduction based on the facility replaced and annual cost avoidance of $2.24M when compared to the two newer hospitals that were not Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certified. Conclusions: This study demonstrates that the quality of the hospital environment has social, environmental, and cost implications that aligns with the intention of sustainable design as defined by the United States Green Building Council (USGBC). Developing a built environment that supports productivity, efficiency, safety, and engagement contributes to the prosperity of the healthcare organization.

scholarly journals Metonyms of destruction: Death, ruination, and the bombing of Rotterdam in the Second World War

2021 ◽  
pp. 135918352110164
Author(s):  
Antonius CGM Robben
Keyword(s):  
Built Environment ◽  
Joint Destruction ◽  
Second World War ◽  
City Centre ◽  
Post Mortem ◽  
Port City ◽  
World War ◽  
The Dead ◽  
Second World ◽  
Insight Into

The German and Allied bombing of Rotterdam in the Second World War caused thousands of dead and hundreds of missing, and severely damaged the Dutch port city. The joint destruction of people and their built environment made the ruins and rubble stand metonymically for the dead when they could not be mentioned in the censored press. The contiguity of ruins, rubble, corpses and human remains was not only semantic but also material because of the intermingling and even amalgamation of organic and inorganic remains into anthropomineral debris. The hybrid matter was dumped in rivers and canals to create broad avenues and a modern city centre. This article argues that Rotterdam’s semantic and material metonyms of destruction were generated by the contiguity, entanglement, and post-mortem and post-ruination agencies of the dead and the destroyed city centre. This analysis provides insight into the interaction and co-constitution of human and material remains in war.

scholarly journals 31.B. Workshop: Public health and urban design: an interdisciplinary approach to promote autism friendly environments

2020 ◽  
Vol 30 (Supplement_5) ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Risk Factors ◽  
Environmental Factors ◽  
Built Environment ◽  
Urban Design ◽  
Significant Role ◽  
Prevalence Rates ◽  
Environmental Characteristics ◽  
The Relationship

Abstract Autism is a set of heterogeneous neurodevelopmental conditions, characterised by early-onset difficulties in social communication and restricted, repetitive behaviour and interests. The worldwide population prevalence is about 1% with an increasing incidence and prevalence rates. Autism affects more male than female individuals, and comorbidity is common (>70% have concurrent conditions). Determinants of these changes in incidence and prevalence rates may also be related to exposure to environmental factors and to modifications in diagnostic concepts and criteria. In spite of the uncertainty in determinants of incidence of autisms, there is evidence that environmental characteristics play a significant role both as autism risk factors and as potential obstacles that influence the capabilities of autonomously and fully “using” everyday spaces. The workshop aims to provide a framework on risk factors of autism and explore the relationship with the built environment, focusing on the quality of the everyday spaces and projecting the effects that it could have in the long term on achieving a desirable level of quality of life. The 11th Sustainable Development Goals of United Nations “Make cities inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable” underlines the necessity of designing policies and projects acting to enhance and promote healthy cities and communities by addressing the needs of the most vulnerable groups of inhabitants. Herewith we bring together the discipline of Public Health and Urban Design to promote an interdisciplinary debate on a little explored topic investigating how the approaches adopted during childhood to promote the wellbeing of people with ASD can be related or strengthen by focusing also on built environment design intervention to pursue and reach the same objectives even during adulthood. The workshop will consist of four presentations. The first focuses on giving an overview on current knowledge of intervention for people with autism, presenting also criteria for evidence-based interventions. The second explores the relationship between autism and built environment by providing an exhaustive framework of the available research literature in order to identify a first set of spatial requirements for autism friendly cities. The third examines the impact of built environment on ASD users with the aim of developing a specific evaluation tool for healthcare spaces and best practices formulation according to the specific sensorial hypo- or hyper-activation of people with autism. Finally, the fourth reports the results of a two years Research & Development project called “GAP REDUCE” finalized at developing an Assistive Technology tool to support people with ASD, adult and high-functioning, to plan urban itineraries towards daily destinations. Key messages World's incidence of autism is about 1% with an increasing incidence whose determining rates may also be related to environmental factors and to modifications in diagnostic concepts and criteria. Environmental characteristics play a significant role also as potential obstacles that influence the capabilities of people with autism of autonomously and fully “using” everyday spaces.

A Tsunami of Love: Overcoming the Violence of Curiosity—The Lived Experiences of Young Adults Born with Variations of Sex Characteristics

2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (2) ◽  
pp. 11-35
Author(s):  
Eva De Clercq
Keyword(s):  
Young Adults ◽  
Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis ◽  
Quality Care ◽  
Phenomenological Analysis ◽  
Sex Characteristics ◽  
Health Providers ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Patient Centered ◽  
Medical Settings ◽  
Insight Into

This study provides insight into the experiences of young adults born with variations of sex characteristics to identify aspects of care and social support that need improvement. Semi-structured interviews with intersex youths in Switzerland were analyzed using interpretative, phenomenological analysis. Young adults desire timely, patient-centered information about their diagnoses. Peer support is key to delivering high-quality care but rarely systematically implemented. Intersex youth often face misrepresentation, stigma, and discrimination in medical settings and in society. Increased visibility alone cannot tackle these issues, but a feminist curiosity of care will enable health providers and society to overcome preconceptions of body normativity.

China’s Wall: Space, Power, and Culture

2017 ◽  
Vol 21 (2) ◽  
pp. 108-119
Author(s):  
Song Mei Lee-Wong
Keyword(s):  
Social Organization ◽  
Social Space ◽  
Chinese History ◽  
Administrative System ◽  
Household Registration ◽  
Spatial Metaphor ◽  
Imperial China ◽  
China Today ◽  
Insight Into ◽  
Mao Era

China’s wall is part of Chinese history—both as habitation (walled settlements) and as an icon of Chinese civilization. More significantly, China’s wall, as a configured part of social space is a spatial metaphor of division and differentiation. According to Bourdieu, space is about social organization and power. This article is a sociohistorical discourse on China’s wall, specifically on social space as conceptualized and perceived in imperial China, during the Mao era and in China today. Bourdieu’s concept of space as social and relational lends itself to the deconstruction of the metaphorical wall. It is contended that the age-old hukou/household registration, reestablished by Mao in conjunction with the danwei/work/administrative system, constitutes a part of this wall. The intent behind this discourse is to gain insight into Chinese conceptualization and perceptions of space within a sociohistorical framework.

scholarly journals Developing a Measurement Scale of Gender-Friendly Hospital Environments: An Exploratory Study of Customer Perceptions in Taiwan

2018 ◽  
Vol 15 (10) ◽  
pp. 2227 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ying-Chyi Chou ◽  
Van Dang ◽  
Hsin-Yi Yen ◽  
Pi-Shan Hsu
Keyword(s):  
Gender Equality ◽  
Measurement Instrument ◽  
Hospital Environment ◽  
Equal Treatment ◽  
Measurement Scale ◽  
Customer Perceptions ◽  
Hospital Environments ◽  
Five Factors ◽  
Healthcare Environments ◽  
And Gender

According to the United Nations, males and females should be given equal treatment in physical and psychological services, and healthcare institutions should exert greater efforts to reduce the gap in gender equality. However, this issue has been largely ignored in previous literature on healthcare environments. Designing a hospital environment that focuses on gender differences is critical to academic researchers and practical managers in all healthcare institutions. Thus, as an exploratory effort, this study aims to develop a measurement to assess customer perceptions of gender-friendly hospital environments. To identify and refine the structure of the instrument, two studies are conducted at different hospitals in Taiwan. The exploratory evidence shows there are five factors (i.e., physical design, functional design, marking design, gender perception, and gender-friendly services) and 28 items in the measurement scale of gender-friendly hospital environments. Results also show that gender-friendly hospital environments affect customers’ loyalty and willingness to pay. Based on our findings, hospital practitioners and researchers can adopt the measurement instrument used in this study to deal with the gap of gender equality in healthcare environments.

Setting up a ‘Special Relationship’: Students as Co-Creators of a Research-based Curriculum

2018 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Raphael Hallett ◽  
Charlotte Tomlinson ◽  
Tim Procter
Keyword(s):  
Significant Role ◽  
Curriculum Design ◽  
Special Relationship ◽  
Hybrid Identity ◽  
Special Collections ◽  
Institutional Ethos ◽  
The University ◽  
Insight Into ◽  
The Way

The idea of student/staff partnership has become ubiquitous in the way universities market their institutional ethos and enshrines an idealised 'dialogic structure' within curriculum design. Which universitities are actually putting this into practice and allowing their students a significant role in the machinations of curriculum design and enhancement?This case study investigates the emerging co-operation between the University of Leeds Library, a team of Special Collections interns and the academic and student communities they reach out to. It suggests, in microcosm, a model for the co-creation of the curriculum which positions the student as co-creator, certainly, but also as mediator, tutor, mentor and communicator.The project case study adds insight into the fascinating hybrid identity that students can occupy within the contested territory of university-wide curriculum design, and explores the complex status and authority of students and tutors as they explore fresh relationships of opportunity and expertise.

Performance Studies of Integrated Network Scenarios in a Hospital Environment

2015 ◽  
pp. 1398-1425 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nurul I. Sarkar ◽  
Anita Xiao-min Kuang ◽  
Kashif Nisar ◽  
Angela Amphawan
Keyword(s):  
Healthcare Delivery ◽  
Integrated Approach ◽  
Network Size ◽  
Hospital Environment ◽  
Data Loss ◽  
File Transfer ◽  
Integrated Network ◽  
Integrated Networks ◽  
Backbone Networks ◽  
Hospital Environments

Hospital network is evolving towards a more integrated approach by interconnecting wireless technologies into backbone networks. Although various integrated network scenarios have been published in the networking literature, a generic hospital model has not yet been fully explored and it remains a challenging topic in practice. One of the problems encountered by network practitioners is the seamless integration of network components into healthcare delivery. A good understanding of the performance of integrated networks is required for efficient design and deployment of such technologies in hospital environments. This research paper discuss on the modelling and evaluation of integrated network scenarios in hospital environments. The impact of traffic types (e.g. data, voice and video), traffic load, network size and signal strength on network performance is investigated by simulation. Three piloted case studies look at client performance in radiology Accident and Emergency (A & E and Intensive Care Unit (ICU)) scenarios. Each scenario reflects the need for various traffic types that end up distinct network behaviours. In the radiology scenario, email and File Transfer Protocol (FTP) traffic is found to perform well for medium-to-large networks. In the A & E scenario, Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) traffic is shown to generate very limited jitter and data loss. The performance is aligned with the Quality of Service (QoS) requirements. In the ICU scenario, the performance of video conference degrades with network size, thus, a QoS-enabled device is recommended to reduce the packet delay and data loss. IEEE 802.11a suits in hospital environment because it mitigates interference on the 2.4GHz band where most wireless devices operate.

scholarly journals Ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) as Potential Mechanical Vectors of Pathogenic Bacteria in a Public Hospital in the Eastern Amazon, Brazil

2020 ◽  
Vol 57 (5) ◽  
pp. 1619-1626
Author(s):  
Leonardo Espíndola do Nascimento ◽  
Raquel Rodrigues Amaral ◽  
Ricardo Marcelo dos Anjos Ferreira ◽  
Diogo Vitor Soares Trindade ◽  
Rafael Espíndola do Nascimento ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Public Hospital ◽  
Pathogenic Bacteria ◽  
Bacterial Contamination ◽  
Bacterial Species ◽  
Brain Heart Infusion ◽  
Hospital Environment ◽  
Hospital Environments ◽  
Microbiological Analyses ◽  
Amazonian Region ◽  
Dominant Ant

Abstract Studies related to ants found in hospital environments have aroused interest in their role as mechanical vectors of pathogenic microorganisms. The objective of the current research was to determine the species composition and bacterial contamination of ant species found in a public hospital in the eastern Amazonian region. Ants were captured using bait containing honey and sterilized sardines in 15 locations within the Macapá Emergency Hospital, Amapá. Ants were identified morphologically using specific keys. Bacteria were first inoculed in a Brain Heart Infusion broth and then plated on 5% Agar with blood or MacConkey media. Bacterial species were identified through biochemical procedures. In total, 9,687 ants were collected, with 69.8% from the dry season and 30.2% from the rainy season. Nine species of ants were identified belonging to three subfamilies: the Monomorium pharaonis (Linnaeus 1758) being the most common, comprising 39.2% of the total specimens. Only one ant species was found in each bait, facilitating microbiological analyses. In total, 92 bacteria isolates were identified comprising 12 species. Pseudomonas aeruginosa Schroeter 1872 (Pseudomonadales: Pseudomonadaceae) was pathogenic bacteria, most frequently isolated, comprising 10.9% of the positive samples. The most contaminated ant in the study was M. pharaonis with 38.3%. It was the dominant ant species in this hospital environment. Its wide prevalence, forage day and night of this vector in hospital facilitated bacterial contamination. The presence of bacteria on ants may be associated with the dissemination of pathogens which cause hospital infections, making pest control a necessity in these institutions.

scholarly journals Splitting to survive: understanding terrorist group fragmentation

2017 ◽  
Vol 3 (3) ◽  
pp. 222-232 ◽  
Author(s):  
John Francis Morrison
Keyword(s):  
Significant Role ◽  
Theoretical Basis ◽  
Design Methodology ◽  
Terrorist Group ◽  
Al Qaeda ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Almost All ◽  
Practical Implications ◽  
Insight Into

Purpose From Al-Qaeda to the IRA, almost all terrorist organisations have experienced splits in some shape or form. This can spell the dawn of violent spoiler groups, but it may equally play a significant role in the overall politicisation of a group. The purpose of this paper is to provide a greater understanding of these splits by assessing the issue from a political organisational perspective. Design/methodology/approach The author proposes that by addressing splits through the lens of organisational survival, we may gain a greater insight into the process which takes place in the lead up to, and in the aftermath of, organisational cleavage. Findings It is posited that the rationale behind schism can, at times, be the result of a desire from at least one side to maintain the survival of the organisation in a form they both respect and recognise. In order to achieve this, it might require forming an independent, autonomous organisation, or alternatively promoting the exit of internal factional competitors. Research limitations/implications Within the paper, three organisational hypotheses are proposed. It is vital that in order to assess their validity, these are empirically tested by future researchers. Practical implications To be able to counter terrorist organisations, one must first have an understanding of the external and internal events and processes. While much of our attention is on understanding paid to the external violent activity of the groups, we must also develop a significant understanding of the non-violent internal activities as well. This paper provides a theoretical basis for understanding one of these process, organisational split. Originality/value By addressing splits from an organisational survival viewpoint, the paper challenges the previously held assumption that splits should be analysed as part of the “end of terrorism.”

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