Health care environment
Short description
The research group in healthcare environments studies how care and social care settings affect health, wellbeing, independence and the quality of care. The research is based on the relationship between the person and the surrounding environment and includes the physical environment, the perceived atmosphere and the meaning that a place has for patients, relatives and staff. The group examines how healthcare environments can support daily activities, safety, participation and recovery, but also how the environment can create barriers or contribute to healthcare-associated harm. The studies are conducted in different health and social care contexts and include inpatient care, outpatient care, residential care and care in the home.
Healthcare environments include both the physical place and how the environment is experienced by those who spend time there. This includes visible and measurable aspects, such as the size of the room, light, sound, temperature, materials, views and access to nature, as well as the psychosocial environment: atmosphere, safety, a sense of welcome, kindness and care.
These perspectives often interact. The design of the physical space affects the feeling conveyed by the environment. This can be described as a psychospatial dimension, where the design of the place and people’s experience of it are connected.
How an environment is perceived is personal. Vision, hearing, smell, touch, previous experiences, knowledge and background all influence how we interpret our surroundings. The same environment may therefore be experienced as safe and welcoming by one person, but as difficult to understand, uncomfortable or restrictive by another.
When a person is in a position of dependency due to illness or disability, the healthcare environment becomes particularly significant. The surroundings need to be easy to understand and navigate. They also need to support safety, independence and wellbeing. A person-centred approach is therefore central to the planning and adaptation of health and social care environments.
Purpose
Research on healthcare environments aims to increase knowledge about how health and social care environments can be designed to support health, independence, self-esteem, safety and wellbeing. The research is based on the relationship between the person and the surrounding environment, and on how the environment can function as a support or a barrier.
The studies examine how the environment can be adapted to people’s different needs and abilities, and what significance this has for behaviour, function, participation and wellbeing. This may involve environments that stimulate mental abilities, support daily activities and encourage engagement.
Aim
Research on healthcare environments focuses on patients’, relatives’ and staff members’ experiences of health and social care environments. The research also examines how healthcare-associated harm, both psychosocial and physical, can be prevented, and how health economic aspects can be linked to the environment.
The studies are based on a lifeworld perspective and include environments in inpatient care, outpatient care, ordinary housing and residential care.
Since healthcare environments are complex systems, both quantitative and qualitative methods are used, including surveys, register studies, interviews, observations and photovoice. The field also includes methodological development and the development of instruments.
Examples of research areas
- The significance of the physical environment in forensic psychiatric care
- Housing architecture and the significance of enriched environments
- The quality of the physical healthcare environment and its significance for wellbeing among older people in residential care
- Premises and organisational development in relation to person-centred care in oncology care
- The home as an arena for health and social care
- Safe care in the home through co-created care encounters between frail older people and home care staff
- The mealtime environment in paediatric care and habilitation
- The environment in the birthing room
- The significance of the psychospatial environment for young people cared for in secure residential youth care