The Psychological Benefits of Waiting Room of Hospital
Date Issued
2008
Date
2008
Author(s)
Hsieh, Ya-Ting
Abstract
Patients and their families are increasingly demanding higher quality hospital services, including waiting room quality. Indeed, enhancing waiting rooms’ environmental qualities can provide users with psychological benefits and positive healthy effects. lthough many researchers have connected improved psychological benefits to exposure to natural landscapes and plants, little such research has examined hospital waiting rooms, resulting in a lack of fundamental theories in this area. Therefore, this exploratory study subsumes the factors of building interior spaces, arranging and decorating waiting rooms with greenery to determine whether such objects affect users’ space perceptions, space cognitions, and psychological benefits using an independent sample t-test. The research also compared users’ psychological benefits from various types of greenery. The results demonstrated that greenery enhanced users’ space perceptions related to harmonious color arrangements and “cold” feelings, space cognitions related to colliding with objects easily when walking and disreputable facilities as well as rough or poor quality facilities, and psychological benefits related to feeling “burdened” more so than non-greenery decorations. Interestingly, posters of greenery resulted in better outcomes related to users’ space perceptions (i.e., harmonious color arrangements), space cognitions (i.e., frequent collisions with objects when walking, an ordered space arrangement in which participants can find their way easily, a safe space arrangement, a feeling of a joyous atmosphere, and a feeling of whatever the participant does someone is always looking at him or her), and psychological benefits (i.e., feelings of being relaxed and comfortable) than real greenery. Differences emerged in space perceptions (i.e., peaceful feelings), space cognitions (i.e., safe arrangement or dirty area), and psychological benefits (i.e., doing whatever one wants versus following others’ orders) when comparing flowering and foliage plants. multiple regression was utilized to examine the greenery-affected space perception items and greenery-affected space cognition items in regards to psychological benefits; the results indicated that noise, color harmony, and air quality (in regards to space perception) and atmosphere, space arrangement, privacy, comfort through the use of equipment, and cleanliness (in regards to space cognition) affected users’ psychological benefits significantly. Thus, utilizing greenery in waiting rooms can improve users’ space perception, space cognition, and psychological benefits; designers should take these considerations into account.
Subjects
Waiting room
Space Perception
Space Cognition
Greenery
Psychological benefit
Type
thesis
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