Abstract

Paulina Akpan-Idiok and Aniebietabasi Ackley

ABSTRACT

The design of a healthcare facility could have a significant influence on its users. This research provides evidence of the impact of the indoor environment on the wellbeing of both patients and healthcare professionals. The study was a descriptive cross sectional survey. A simple random sampling technique was used to select a sample of 200 patients aged 18+ years with a minimum of 7 days’ length of stay (LOS) in the health care facility, and 110 nurses and doctors. A 25-item researcher developed and validated questionnaire was used to gather the perspectives of patients, doctors and nurses in two public healthcare facilities in Calabar Municipality, Nigeria. Data analysis involved descriptive and inferential statistics (frequency count, simple percentages). The basic ethical principles of the Helsinki Declaration applied in research involving human subjects was strictly adhered to. The respondents consisted of more females 194 (62.5%) than males 116 (37.5%). The majority of the respondents were aged 35 to 49 years, 155 (50%); attained tertiary education 175 (56.5%); and Christians 270 (87.1%). The study findings revealed that, patient respondents were found to be more perceptive about factors related to sound, light, thermal comfort and art on their wellbeing, while staff were less sensitive to these factors - due to environmental resilience, self-efficacy and adaptation. The study had a good correspondence with previous healthcare research on users’ wellbeing and environmental psychology. The study concludes that, a sustainable therapeutic environment should promote design elements that encourage patient control towards recovery and efficient staff delivery of services for optimum healthcare productivity in Calabar municipality, Nigeria.