RETHINKING THE ELEMENTS OF A THERAPEUTIC ENVIRONMENT IN HOSPITAL WARDS FOR SINGAPORE HOSPITALS.

Abstract

The focus of the design of healthcare space have been on making an environment that is technologically advanced and well-equipped to keep the facility clean and sterile. Little care was given to the design of the space and this resulted in generic hospitals that looked very institutional and intimidating to many. Recently, there has been an increasing interest in the field of therapeutic environments and its use as a healing space in healthcare facilities. As opposed to healthcare spaces which are focused on the human physiology, healing spaces are concerned with the human physiology, psychology and emotion. Various studies and researches done have identified various factors that contribute towards a therapeutic environment and its influence on medical outcomes documented. While some empirical evidence from these researches seems promising, the question is, are these elements of therapeutic environment valid in the context of Singapore? This dissertation seeks to question the applicability of the elements or factors of a therapeutic environment which are mostly identified from research and experiments done in western countries. Is there a difference in the preferences of hospital users for therapeutic environments between western countries where the researches were carried out and in Singapore? Or are these elements universal? Through a survey conducted, the dissertation aims to understand the differences, if any, between the cultural, climatic and geographical background of Singapore and its impact on the perceived comfort of therapeutic environments in hospitals. Due to the scale of this dissertation, it will specifically focus on the hospital wards in general hospitals where patients spend most of their time.