Patientsʼ experiences of wellbeing in the physical hospital environment: a systematic review of qualitative evidence protocol

Abstract

Review question/objective The objective of this systematic review is to identify, appraise and synthesize the best available evidence regarding patients’ experiences of wellbeing in the physical hospital environment. More specifically, the review question is: How do hospitalized patients experience and assign meaning to the physical hospital environment in relation to their experience of wellbeing? Inclusion criteria Types of participants This review will consider studies that include hospitalized adult patients over 18 years of age with all types of diagnoses and of both genders. Studies focusing on adults admitted with psychiatric or dementia diagnoses will be excluded from the review. Also, studies including children and adolescents will be excluded. Types of phenomena of interest This review will consider studies that explore patients’ experiences of the physical hospital environment in relation to their wellbeing. For the purpose of this review, wellbeing is described as an experiential phenomenon articulated in a multiplicity of different kinds of wellbeing, for example wellbeing can be experienced spatially, temporally, inter-personally, bodily, in mood, and in terms of the experience of personal identity. In relation to this review, experiences are considered to be a person’s individual perception of being in the world, for example the individual perceptions of their life world. Types of context This review will consider studies that explore how hospitalized patients in all kinds of wards experience the physical hospital environment. For example the architecture, design features, furnishing and decoration. In summary, for the purpose of this review, the physical hospital environment is defined as architectural features, interior design features and ambient features.