Healing environment correlated with patients’ psychological comfort: Post-occupancy evaluation of general hospitals

Abstract

Modern hospital indoor environment aims at fulfilling the psychological needs and preferences of the people who use it. Nowadays, physical and non-physical and healing environments are perceived as potential contributors to recovery processes. Unlike curing, healing relates to aspects of health that are psychological and spiritual. This study aims at tracing the relationship between the qualitative level of the healing environment and patients’ psychological comfort. Therefore, a 43-item questionnaire was distributed among 148 respondents to obtain patients’ opinion; a total of 117 valid questionnaires were received. The results showed that the quality of the healing environment can be considerably related to the fulfilment of patients’ satisfaction. The patients at tested hospitals were generally satisfied with their healing environments. The findings revealed four crucial factors, Interior appearance, Comfort and control, Views and Privacy, to create a satisfying healing environment. A negative correlation between demographic information, such as age and education, and patient satisfaction was revealed. Additionally, this study suggests that post-occupancy evaluation is a relevant tool for evaluating the quality of indoor environment and a useful technique to inform designers that variations in the indoor physical design may positively influence the patients’ level of satisfaction.