Evaluating the inclusivity of hospital wayfinding systems for people with diverse needs and abilities

Background Wayfinding in hospitals is a complex problem since patients, who are likely to be under stress, may have to navigate their way to multiple locations in the course of a single visit. While good wayfinding design can reduce stress, poor wayfinding not only can increase anxiety on an individual basis but also generate additional costs for the hospital itself due to: lost time among staff members because of the necessity of directing patients rather than concentrating on their designated task; the cost of missed appointments or delayed meetings; and additional security staff to ensure that patients don’t go to restricted areas. Objectives We focused on whether a questionnaire, whose development involved collecting data using the subjective experiences of wayfinders with diverse needs and abilities, could provide, compared to current methods, added value in uncovering wayfinding problems in hospitals. Methods The methodology we developed involved four steps: 1) creating an initial questionnaire based on the literature; 2) customizing the questionnaire to a hospital environment; 3) validating and verifying the questionnaire; and 4) evaluating the questionnaire’s added value at nine other hospitals. Results The questionnaire’s generality and added value were proved since many types of wayfinding problems were uncovered at the nine hospitals that other methods had overlooked or regarded as relatively unimportant. Conclusion The research emphasizes the centrality and uniqueness of the wayfinder and not that of the institute in determining what people need. Our findings can contribute to understanding wayfinding issues in hospitals and to sensitize designers to the needs and knowledge levels of wayfinders when designing hospitals.status: publishe