The public areas of the hospital built environment have hardly been investigated for their age-friendliness.
Objective:
This exploratory, multidisciplinary pilot study investigates the relationship between the physical environment and design of hospital spaces and older people’s outpatient experience.
Methods:
Sixteen participants were recruited from a geriatric Outpatient Clinic at a metropolitan public hospital in Australia. Participants were engaged in a concurrent mixed-method approach, comprising a comprehensive geriatric survey, walking observation, semi-structured interview and an independent architectural audit.
Results:
Several elements arising from the hospital environment were identified as facilitators and barriers for its utilization and intrinsically related to participants’ physical capacity.
Discussion:
Age-friendly hospital design needs to consider strategies to remove barriers for older adults of different capacities, thus promoting healthy aging.
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