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A Scoping Review of Pediatric Healthcare Built Environment Experiences and Preferences Among Children With
Clarissa Yu1, Emi Wong1, Juliana Gignac1
1Bloorview Research Institute, Holland Bloorview Kids Rehabilitation Hospital, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
Insights
Children with disabilities (CWD) and their families prefer healthcare environments that support social interaction, privacy, and parental presence. Designing inclusive pediatric spaces can improve care and quality of life for CWD.
Area of Science:
- Pediatric Healthcare Design
- Disability Studies
- Environmental Psychology
Background:
- Children with disabilities (CWD) have unique healthcare experiences due to frequent visits and specific needs.
- Existing research on CWD in healthcare settings primarily focuses on clinical aspects, neglecting the impact of the built environment.
- Understanding CWD's perceptions of healthcare built environments is crucial for improving their overall experience and care.
Purpose of the Study:
- To explore how children with disabilities and their families experience pediatric healthcare built environments.
- To identify key features of healthcare built environments that influence the perceptions and experiences of CWD.
Main Methods:
- A comprehensive scoping review of five health science and interdisciplinary databases was performed.
- Search terms included "children," "disability," "healthcare," and "built environment."
- A rigorous screening process involving three independent reviewers was applied to 5,397 identified records.
Main Results:
- Nineteen studies met the inclusion criteria for the final review.
- CWD and their families prioritize built environment features that facilitate social engagement, ensure patient privacy, and allow for parental presence.
- Child's age significantly influences preferences for healthcare built environment features.
Conclusions:
- Specific healthcare built environment features are preferred by CWD and their families to enhance their experiences.
- Healthcare designers can utilize these findings to create more inclusive and supportive pediatric healthcare spaces.
- Optimizing the built environment can lead to improved care and quality of life for children with disabilities and their families.
Background:
Some children with disabilities (CWD) frequently visit pediatric healthcare settings for appointments. Their age, disability, and regular visits mean that they have unique experiences in healthcare settings. While previous research has explored the clinical experiences of CWD, little is known about their experiences of pediatric healthcare built environments, even though these environments may play an important role in shaping their perceptions of care. Given the significant time that some CWD and chronic illnesses (e.g., cancer) spend in healthcare environments and the impact that these settings can have on their experiences, the knowledge gap concerning how they view, and experience healthcare built environments demands attention.
Objective:
To explore how CWD and their families experience pediatric healthcare built environments.
Methods:
A scoping review was conducted by searching five health science and interdisciplinary literature databases using terms related to children, disability, healthcare, and built environment. The search identified 5,397 records that were screened independently by three reviewers.
Results:
Nineteen studies met inclusion criteria and were considered in the final review. Findings indicate that CWD and their families value healthcare built environment features that support social engagement, patient privacy, and parental presence. Further, the age of a child was highlighted as an important factor that influences the built environment preferences of CWD.
Conclusions:
CWD and their families prefer certain healthcare built environment features to optimize their experiences in these settings. Healthcare designers can leverage these findings to advance more inclusive pediatric healthcare spaces to improve care and the quality of life for CWD and their families.
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