2015, Vol.21, No.3

JOURNAL OF THE KOREA INSTITUTE OF HEALTHCARE ARCHITECTURE 2023 KCI Impact Factor : 0.46

pISSN : 2733-8649 / eISSN : 2733-8657
https://journal.kci.go.kr/ikiha

Purpose: This paper‘s main objective is to provide a systematic review of research evidence that articulates the impact of environment-related factors on wandering for people with dementia in the Long-term Care Facilities. Another objective of this study is to identify design implications that can be incorporated into design process and decisions to positively improve wandering abilities for people with dementia. Methods: Comprehensive literature review has been performed to investigate empirical studies and peer-reviewed articles published in many different fields including psychology, architecture, nursing to gerontology. Results: The review found studies that identified environment-related factors, affecting wandering for people with Dementia living in Long-term Care Facilities. Implications: The findings can help us understand wandering behavior and the recommendations in this research can serve as parts of considerations in practice that can help efficiently manage wandering abilities of people with dementia living in Long-term Care Facilities. Further studies with larger samples and various environmental conditions are required to confirm the findings in this study.

Purpose: Signs that are installed at unnoticeable places or that disconnect before the destination can bring errors of location information delivery. Therefore, this study aims to find out the spatial relation between structure of space and signs in the perspective of visual exposure possibility, operating arrangement and assesment by applying spatial structure theory. Methods: Effectiveness of organization of guidance signs was evaluated after the four way-finding factors(Plan Configuration, Sign System, Perceptual Access, Architectural Difference) that G.D.Weisman suggested were interpreted by spatial structure theory(J-Graph analysis, Space Syntax, Visual Graph Analysis) under the premise that it is closely related to the structure of space. Results: 1) Because the south corridor that connects each department of outpatient division is located in the hierarchy center of the space, and walking density is expected to be high, guidance signs need to be organized at the place with high integration value. 2) The depth to the destination space can be estimated through J-Graph analysis. The depth means a switch of direction, and the guidance signs are needed according to the number. 3) According to visibility graph analysis, visual exposure can be different in the same hierarchy unit space according to the shape of the flat surface. Based on these data, location adjustment of signs is possible, and the improvement effect can be estimated quantitatively. Implications: Spatial structure theory can be utilized to design and evaluate sign systems, and it helps to clearly understand the improvement effect. It is desirable to specify design and estimation of sign systems in the order of J-Graph analysis→Space Syntax Theory→ visibility graph analysis.

Purpose: The main objective of this paper is, to evaluate the unit design for patient-centered care and to draw lessons-learned for further improvement. Methods: This study conducted a case study of the intensive care unit, designed to fulfill patient-centered care in the US. It evaluated the effectiveness of the unit by incorporating several study methods such as plan analyses, direct observations through nursing tracking and behavior mapping, and focus group interviews. Results: The major design decision made in this patient-centered unit was the use of patient rooms with designated family areas and distributed nursing stations. Both design features appeared to be a success on a variety of research metrics and outcomes. The study identified that the patient rooms ultimately help family members to spent more time with their loved ones, which leads to increased satisfaction of family members and nurses also report that they generally enjoy the distributed nurses’ stations, which provide a comfortable environment to complete their regular lines of work such as charting, monitoring patients, and collaborating with their colleagues. Implications: Certain design features in intensive care units such as patient rooms with designated family areas and distributed nursing stations could appropriately support hospitals to fulfill patient-centered care.