Impact of Physical Environment of a Rehabilitation Facility on the Social Support and Interaction Patterns of Spinal Cord Injury Patients and their Family and Friends: A Naturalistic Inquiry
Abstract
Previous research has demonstrated the positive effects of family and friends
support on the overall well-being of Spinal Cord Injury (SCI) rehabilitation patients.
This study explores the ways in which physical environment can provide for social support
to SCI patients in inpatient rehabilitation in order to improve their health outcomes.
Since there is not enough literature available in the field of architecture to help in the
development of hypotheses to be tested related to the physical environment of the social
situation, the researcher aimed to develop a theory for future studies. This study was
conducted as a naturalistic inquiry. Ten medical staff caring for the patient group and
currently working at Willis-Knighton Health System (WKHS), Shreveport, LA were interviewed
in order to understand their perceptions regarding the effect of the healthcare
environment on the quality of interaction between patients and their family and friends.
The results indicated that caregivers believed patient rooms to have highest potential
of providing quality patient-family interaction because patients spend most of
their days in their rooms. Physical Therapy gym, Occupational Therapy gym and leisure
room (day room) were also discussed as important places that patients and families could
use together. Lack of enough space was thought to be the biggest barrier in the nature of
their interaction. Implications of this study are that additional studies are required to determine
the minimum space requirement for SCI patient rooms with family zone. Architectural
design of these spaces should account for the functional space requirement.
Subject
Social SupportSocial Interaction
Heathcare facility design
Rehabilitation environment
Naturalistic Inquiry
Spinal Cord Injury
Inpatient rehabilitation
Citation
Setya, Nidhi (2014). Impact of Physical Environment of a Rehabilitation Facility on the Social Support and Interaction Patterns of Spinal Cord Injury Patients and their Family and Friends: A Naturalistic Inquiry. Master's thesis, Texas A & M University. Available electronically from https : / /hdl .handle .net /1969 .1 /152745.