Presenting a conceptual model for designing hospital architecture with a patient‑centered approach based on the patient’s lived experience of sense of place in the therapeutic space

In recent years, among managers and designers of health‑care spaces, there has been a growing tendency to move toward hospital design by combining patient perceptions and expectations of the physical environment of the care area. The main idea of this study was to present a conceptual model of hospital architecture in our country with a patient‑centered approach based on some factors that were affecting the sense of place. This model determined the architectural features of treatment spaces from a patient’s lived experience that could have a positive mental effect on patients as well. The main question of the research was how to adapt the objective perception to the patient’s mental perception to create a sense of place in the hospital space?

This research was qualitative with a phenomenological approach, conducted between July and December 2020. Purposeful sampling consisted of 23 patients, 13 males in the male surgery unit and 10 females in the gynecology unit, who were interviewed in‑depth. They were hospitalized for at least 3 days in two hospitals (Dr. Pirooz in Lahijan and Ghaem in Rasht). The data were analyzed by the Colaizzi method.

The results consisted of 530 primary codes, 57 subthemes, and 7 main themes. The main themes were hospital location, access to hospital, hospital identity, hospital dependency, hospital attachment, human interactions in the hospital, and hospital evaluation.

The hospital form guided the patient, and the hospital function directed and obviated the patient’s needs. The healing environment and human interactions with it caused the patient to be satisfied with the hospital environment.