Wayfinding : embedding knowledge in hospital environments

The traditional use of signs has failed to overcome the problem of wayfinding in hospitals. As wayfinding problems are clearly linked to healthcare outcomes there is need to find a more integrated approach to solving the problem. In this paper it is shown that it is possible to embed forms of knowledge that make it easier for people to find their way with little need for signs. Evidence from literature and from fieldwork supports this assertion. Methods used for our research included direct observation, analysis of photographs and discussion with members of staff and other users of the setting.

[1]  Gerard Hanley,et al.  The Placement and Misplacement of You-Are-Here Maps , 1984 .

[2]  Ferdinando Fornara.  User’s Evaluative Responses to Spatio-Physical Humanization: The Case of Hospital Environments , 2005 .

[3]  Yona Nelson-Shulman,et al.  Information and Environmental Stress: Report of a Hospital Intervention , 1983 .

[4]  R. Downs,et al.  Image and Environment: Cognitive Mapping and Spatial Behavior , 2017 .

[5]  An Invitation to Ethnomethodology: Language, Society and Interaction , 2005 .

[6]  Suesetta T. McCree.  Design That Cares: Planning Health Facilities for Patients and Visitors, 2nd ed , 1994 .

[7]  Marino Bonaiuto,et al.  Users' Evaluative Responses to Spatio-Physical Humanization: the Case of Hospital Environment , 2004 .

[8]  Lauri Koskela,et al.  Using the physical properties of artefacts to manage through‐life knowledge flows in the built environment: an initial exploration , 2010 .

[9]  R. Passini,et al.  Wayfinding in dementia of the Alzheimer type: planning abilities. , 1995, Journal of clinical and experimental neuropsychology.

[10]  C. Zimring,et al.  Just Down The Road A Piece , 2003 .

[11]  J. Carpman,et al.  Design That Cares: Planning Health Facilities for Patients and Visitors , 1986 .

[12]  B. Brown,et al.  A post-occupancy evaluation of wayfinding in a pediatric hospital: Research findings and implications for instruction , 1997 .

[13]  D. Butler,et al.  Wayfinding by Newcomers in a Complex Building , 1993 .

[14]  C. Zimring,et al.  A Review of the Research Literature on Evidence-Based Healthcare Design , 2008, HERD.

[15]  J. Carpman.  " Wayfinding in Hospitals : Solving the Maze " , 2007 .

[16]  S. Kaplan,et al.  Cognition and Environment: Function - ing in an Uncertain World , 1983 .

[17]  Steffen Werner,et al.  The Role of Spatial Reference Frames in Architecture , 2004 .

[18]  Kevin Lynch,et al.  The Image of the City , 1960 .

[19]  Yusuf Ziya Özcan,et al.  Wayfinding in an Unfamiliar Environment , 2004 .

[20]  J. Peponis,et al.  Finding the Building in Wayfinding , 1990 .

[21]  David Francis,et al.  An Invitation to Ethnomethodology: Language, Society and Social Interaction , 2004 .

[22]  Roy A. Ruddle,et al.  Effects of proprioceptive feedback and environmental characteristics on spatial learning in virtual environments , 2004, Int. J. Hum. Comput. Stud..

[23]  E. Woolmington.  Image and Environment: Cognitive Mapping and Spatial Behaviour, R.M. Downs and D. Stea (eds), Aldine Publishing Company, Chicago, 1973. 160 x 240 mm., xxiv and 439 pages (with index), 36 tables, 117 figures. $15.00. , 1976 .

[24]  Jerry Weisman,et al.  Evaluating Architectural Legibility , 1981 .

[25]  Romedi Passini,et al.  Wayfinding: People, Signs, and Architecture , 1992 .

[26]  Romedi Passini,et al.  Wayfinding in Architecture , 1984 .

[27]  Mike Kagioglou,et al.  Criteria for evaluating research: the unique adequacy requirement of methods , 2007 .

[28]  Holly A. Taylor,et al.  How do you get there from here? Mental representations of route descriptions , 1999 .

[29]  C. Holahan.  Cognition and Environment: Functioning in an Uncertain World. , 1984 .