Journal of Engineering and Applied Sciences
ISSN: Online 1818-7803ISSN: Print 1816-949x
Abstract
Modern society today is increasingly becoming an aging society and increases in the elderly population have led to the onset of a variety of problems. Due to the concentration of efforts to solve medical problems by quantitatively increasing the number of medical welfare facilities for the elderly, efforts to further develop its associated qualitative aspects have been largely lacking. In the case of out-patient departments of Geriatrics hospitals, despite the impact that the spatial configurations of a waiting room have on the use and perceptions of the space, spatial hierarchy analyses regarding different types of waiting room configurations are largely lacking. In light of this, this study undertook a spatial hierarchy analysis of the types of waiting rooms found in Geriatrics hospitals for the purpose of establishing basic research material to be applied to the designs of Geriatrics hospitals. This study made use of J-graph and Space Syntax to undertake spatial analyses. Upon doing, so, the following conclusions were reached. First, the waiting rooms of Geriatrics hospitals included in out-patient departments were found to take on a tree structure which is known to be highly visible and hierarchical. The results of analyzing connectivity indicated high levels of connectivity between waiting rooms and the hallways adjacent to the waiting rooms. The results of analyzing the control levels of the reception/billing space indicated that centralized structures presented the highest control levels. This was thought to be the case due to the concentration and distribution of waiting rooms. The results of analyzing spatial structure intelligibility indicated that centralized structures were more intelligible than distributed structures. This meant that centralized structures were more easily usable by elderly individuals. However, as Geriatrics hospitals become larger in size to meet the increasing numbers of elderly people, the planning of waiting rooms to embody centralized structures will likely present challenges. In the future, there is expected to be a greater demand for more appropriate configuration and distribution of the waiting rooms in Geriatrics hospitals.
How to cite this article:
Hae-Jin Hwang, Heangwoo Lee and Chan-Ohk Oh. A Study on Spatial Configuration of Waiting Room in Geriatrics Hospital.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.36478/jeasci.2018.7834.7841
URL: https://www.makhillpublications.co/view-article/1816-949x/jeasci.2018.7834.7841