Articles
Perceptions of hospital patients and staff, a tool to inform the design of healing gardens
Article number
1279_4
Pages
23 – 28
Language
English
Abstract
The benefits of hospital healing gardens are well-documented, however, they require careful design to meet the full potential of their designed purpose.
Three main groups of hospital users are identified; patients, staff and visitors.
Patients and staff constitute the primary users of hospitals in both long-term and short stay medical cases.
Each hospital needs to be addressed individually to identify the particular needs of its patients and staff.
A questionnaire survey investigating the perceptions of a hospital’s patients and staff on the design of its green space could be used as a tool to inform the design of a healing garden with an aim to address more holistically the particular needs of the hospital.
In this study a questionnaire survey investigating the perceptions of both patients and staff of a private hospital in Thessaloniki, Greece was used as a tool to inform the design of a healing garden for the particular hospital.
Results showed that the majority of the patients visit the hospital grounds during morning and noon hours (43.9 and 30.3%, respectively) for 15-30′ (42.4%), while the staff visit during noon and early evening hours (35.5% and 29.0%, respectively) for maximum 15′ (64.5%). The majority of the staff (68.0%) wanted a staff only seating area.
The majority of the medical staff (98.0%) allow patients to participate in mild outdoor activities such as, walking, gardening and light exercise.
Most patients (64.0%) wanted to do gardening if their medical condition allowed it; they also wanted the presence of colour (36.2%) and pergolas or kiosks (35.0%) in the hospital grounds.
With regards to the planting, patients showed a preference for the qualitative characteristics of plants such as scent while the staff showed a preference for plants that provided shade.
Following, a healing garden was proposed that addressed the particular needs of the hospital studied.
Three main groups of hospital users are identified; patients, staff and visitors.
Patients and staff constitute the primary users of hospitals in both long-term and short stay medical cases.
Each hospital needs to be addressed individually to identify the particular needs of its patients and staff.
A questionnaire survey investigating the perceptions of a hospital’s patients and staff on the design of its green space could be used as a tool to inform the design of a healing garden with an aim to address more holistically the particular needs of the hospital.
In this study a questionnaire survey investigating the perceptions of both patients and staff of a private hospital in Thessaloniki, Greece was used as a tool to inform the design of a healing garden for the particular hospital.
Results showed that the majority of the patients visit the hospital grounds during morning and noon hours (43.9 and 30.3%, respectively) for 15-30′ (42.4%), while the staff visit during noon and early evening hours (35.5% and 29.0%, respectively) for maximum 15′ (64.5%). The majority of the staff (68.0%) wanted a staff only seating area.
The majority of the medical staff (98.0%) allow patients to participate in mild outdoor activities such as, walking, gardening and light exercise.
Most patients (64.0%) wanted to do gardening if their medical condition allowed it; they also wanted the presence of colour (36.2%) and pergolas or kiosks (35.0%) in the hospital grounds.
With regards to the planting, patients showed a preference for the qualitative characteristics of plants such as scent while the staff showed a preference for plants that provided shade.
Following, a healing garden was proposed that addressed the particular needs of the hospital studied.
Authors
A.T. Paraskevopoulou, Α. Papadopoulou, Α. Kantartzis, Α. Papadopoulou
Keywords
questionnaire survey, patient outdoor activities, plant characteristics, planting, holistic approach
Groups involved
- Division Landscape and Urban Horticulture
- Working Group Urban Horticulture
- Division Horticulture for Development
- Division Greenhouse and Indoor Production Horticulture
- Working Group Landscape Horticulture
- Working Group Turfgrass
- Division Precision Horticulture and Engineering
- Division Plant-Environment Interactions in Field Systems
- Working Group Mechanization, Digitization, Sensing and Robotics
- Division Vegetables, Roots and Tubers
Online Articles (44)