How Do Adolescents Affected by Cancer Experience a Hospital Environment?

Adolescence is a transition period involving complex development processes. A life-threatening disease like cancer jeopardizes this development and often exposes adolescents to hospital environments that are unadjusted to them. Despite growing research on how the physical environment affects the well-being of the (child as) patient, adolescents are often overlooked. We investigated how adolescents experience a hospital stay and how the physical environment influences that experience.

We interviewed ten adolescents who are or have been affected by cancer between the age of 14 and 25, and discussed preliminary findings with professional experts.

In young people's experience of a hospital environment three interrelated themes stand out: support, distraction, control, and autonomy. Adolescent patients primarily look for connections with life outside the hospital. The hospital confronts them with different obstacles, most of which appear to relate to difficulties concerning the loss of these connections. These obstacles include a lack of freedom, control, and autonomy; limited social interaction with friends; inability to participate in daily activities; boredom; and a lack of privacy.

As a group, adolescent patients clearly have specific characteristics and needs. This specificity, which is largely hidden in the development and transition they are undergoing, explains the need for a hospital environment dedicated to them-be it a separate adolescent ward, or the grouping of adolescents on children's and/or adult wards. Rather than focusing on a superficial list of wishes and needs, the design of this environment should consider the specific reasons driving adolescents' wishes and needs.