Communication in healthcare environments: some reflections on space syntax

Abstract

This paper focuses on the impact that the design and the experience of space in healthcare facilities might have on communication among healthcare professionals. First, we describe the space syntax theory that provides the theoretical and empirical framework to study the layout of space that puts constraints on function realization as well as affords capabilities to understanding and carrying out effective behavior. Then, we review the research on the configurational properties of space in healthcare and hospital facilities, which affect the provision of good healthcare service, with particular attention to communication that emerges as a factor of healthcare service quality. Finally, we argue that the analysis of the perception-action cycle and of communication on the grounds of the spatial layout needs further development and suggest that this work may contribute to the research on Medical Humanities according to a view of radical interdisciplinarity.