Despite significant gains in healthcare design knowledge in the past few decades, sources suggest that designing built environments for ill children is an area needing further exploration (Bishop & Said, 2010; Carney et al., 2003). A primary reason is that hospitalized children are a compromised population, and thus difficult to research directly. Further, known design criteria for ill adults may not be appropriate for children, as their physical size and cognitive ability are different from that of adults (Borgers, De Leeuw, & Hox, 2000). However, literature and guidelines on designing environments for healthy children exist, and these findings may provide knowledge assistive in shaping the design of pediatric healthcare facilities for child cancer patients. In order to examine this premise, this author's study combines literature from three areas - childcare facilities for healthy children, general healthcare facilities, and oncology - with the goal of creating guidelines for healthcare spaces that attend to a child's holistic well-being. One of the oncology studies gathered that researched the quality of life in cancer survivors (Ferrell, Dow & Grant,1995) identified four general categories that contribute to the overall wellness of the cancer survivor: physical, social, psychological, and spiritual. It is logical to presume that these categories might also be used to help maintain balanced wellness during the cancer and cancer treatments. In order to verify this assumption, the author cross-compared this study with others (including those concerning healthy children and hospitalized adults) and noticed the significance of these four factors in other areas of research. The author has used these four categories of human wellness as a means to address the presence and non-presence of holistic design factors within the built environment of a case study pediatric oncology facility. Based on additional research, actionable features were extrapolated from the four general factors into a set of design criteria for ten spaces within the built environment believed to contribute the largest impact among child cancer patients (the study's focus user population). These features were further organized into a checklist-style instrument referred to in this study as the "Holistic Design Criteria". In order to examine the utility and fit of these ideas, the criteria was first used to evaluate the present state of a single case study pediatric facility through observation and staff interviews, seeking to understand how the factors might already be incorporated or where they might be lacking. These evaluations were then cross-compared with four interviews with nursing staff members employed at the case study facility. Finally, the author used these original research findings to guide the hypothetical redesign of the case study facility, putting the criteria's findings into practice. Through the completion of this study, it was revealed that the case study pediatric facility largely lacked built environment features that are believed to inspire spiritual and social wellness. The facility was found to contain some features that are believed to inspire physical and psychological wellness, such as patient-painted ceiling tiles (psychological) and sound-dampening surfaces (physical) throughout the fourth floor inpatient hallway. In order to supplement the loss, this researcher proposed increasing social and psychological wellness by altering the six inpatient rooms along the east edge of the northern hallway into three suite-style rooms which better accommodate large families. In addition, throughout the inpatient hallways, each portion of the inpatient rooms are grouped by a color and given an aesthetic identity within the hallway in order to increase a sense of community and identity for the patients (social, psychological wellness). This is created through focal ceiling drops and floor color changes in order to signal the entrance to an inpatient room. Within the inpatient rooms themselves, additional areas for personalization and self-expression have also been included (social, psychological wellness). It was also revealed through both interviews and observation that opportunities for psychological wellness through nature were difficult to access within the observed fourth floor wing of the hospital, mainly due to the site's current orientation and state, as well as the focus populations' health prohibiting them from coming in contact with plant life. As a result, the researcher proposes renovating the main hallway on the fourth floor to become a psychological escape for patients, medical professionals and families from throughout the fourth floor (psychological, spiritual wellness). The design proposal details expanding this hallway in three segments onto the asphalt roof covering the NICU below, and replacing a portion of the asphalt near the hallway with a low-lying rooftop garden. This way, patients can view nature and experience it without becoming exposed to the associated germs or contaminates (psychological, physical wellness), and the garden will also benefit the hospital by reducing heat reflectivity into the hallway (physical). Through redesigning the facility to increase opportunities for physical, psychological, social and spiritual wellness among child cancer patients, it is the belief of this researcher that that the proposed design may support healing among the user population. Literature review proposes that holistic wellness design could be of benefit to this population, and the observation and interviews conducted in this study support this concept. It is the goal of this study to add to the body of knowledge for pediatric oncology design, as well as bring attention to and awareness of the potential benefit of designing for holistic wellness in pediatric oncology facilities. / A Thesis submitted to the Department of Interior Design in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Fine Arts. / Summer Semester, 2014. / July 9, 2014. / Childcare, Design, Healthcare, Holistic, Interior, Pediatric / Includes bibliographical references. / Jill B. Pable, Professor Directing Thesis; Lisa K. Waxman, Committee Member; Steven Webber, Committee Member.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:fsu.edu/oai:fsu.digital.flvc.org:fsu_185379 |
| Contributors | Dodd, Heather N. (authoraut), Pable, Jill B. (professor directing thesis), Waxman, Lisa K. (committee member), Webber, Steven (committee member), Department of Interior Design (degree granting department), Florida State University (degree granting institution) |
| Publisher | Florida State University, Florida State University |
| Source Sets | Florida State University |
| Language | English, English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Text, text |
| Format | 1 online resource, computer, application/pdf |
| Rights | This Item is protected by copyright and/or related rights. You are free to use this Item in any way that is permitted by the copyright and related rights legislation that applies to your use. For other uses you need to obtain permission from the rights-holder(s). The copyright in theses and dissertations completed at Florida State University is held by the students who author them. |
Page generated in 0.0107 seconds