Steps in Developing a Patient-Centered Measure of Hospital Design Factors

Area of Science:

• Healthcare research methodology
• Patient-centered care evaluation
• Built environment studies

Background:

• Healthcare organizations often overlook patient and family insights.
• Patient-centered care requires understanding patient perceptions of their environment.
• Developing effective patient-centered measures is crucial.

Purpose of the Study:

• To present a four-step medical ethnography approach for developing patient-centered measures.
• To illustrate the application of this method in studying built environments.
• To guide the creation of measures assessing parent perceptions of safety culture in neonatal intensive care units.

Main Methods:

• A four-step medical ethnography framework is described.
• The methodology focuses on systematically collecting patient and family perspectives.
• Case illustration involves developing a measure for neonatal intensive care unit safety culture.

Main Results:

• The described ethnography approach provides a structured way to develop patient-centered measures.
• It enables the capture of nuanced perspectives on healthcare environments.
• The method is adaptable for various built environment research contexts.

Conclusions:

• Medical ethnography offers a robust methodology for patient-centered measure development.
• This approach enhances understanding of patient and family experiences within healthcare settings.
• It supports the advancement of patient-centered care and safety culture assessment.