Mahbub Rashid

A Review of the Empirical Literature on the Relationships Between Indoor Environment and Stress in Health Care and Office Settings Problems and Prospects of Sharing Evidence

A conceptual framework linking indoor environment and stress is provided. The framework suggests that, in many cases, indoor environments may set forth a process leading to stress by affecting individual and/or workplace needs. The framework also suggests that because any direct causal relation between indoor environment and stress may be difficult to establish, researchers should focus more on the evidence that links indoor environment to individual and/or workplace needs. This review focuses primarily on the evidence that relates indoor environment to individual and/or workplace needs in health care and office settings. It shows a growing body of literature addressing these relationships in both settings. However, because the available evidence is uneven, there is a great need for the sharing of knowledge among researchers of these settings. In this regard, differences in organizational factors, user and workplace needs, and physical settings are some issues that need to be carefully considered.

Designing Space to Support Knowledge Work

Based on spatial analysis, network analysis, self-assessment questionnaires, field discussions and accounting documents, the authors discuss how workplace design and spatial layout support productivity in a communication design organization. The authors suggest that the impact of design goes beyond supporting more intense patterns of interaction and smoother flows of information. Workplace design and layout provide an intelligible framework within which collective knowledge is continuously explored, represented, interpreted, and transformed in relation to ongoing projects. Thus, the structure of space supports an organizational culture with cognitive functions.

On the Description of Shape and Spatial Configuration inside Buildings: Convex Partitions and Their Local Properties

As we move through buildings, we experience not only continuous changes of perspective but also discrete transitions from one space to another. To describe movement as a pattern of such transitions we need methods for partitioning space into relevant elementary units. Here we explore several convex partitions including one based on the thresholds at which edges, corners, and surfaces appear into the field of vision of a moving subject, or disappear outside it. Our purpose is to contribute to the development of quantitative descriptions of building shape and spatial configuration.

On the Generation of Linear Representations of Spatial Configuration

It has been shown that, with space syntax, spatial configuration can be described as a set of lines covering all the areas of a layout and all the ways of moving around the one-dimensional and two-dimensional boundaries that it comprises. In this paper we propose alternative formal definitions of linear representations of spatial configuration and the ways in which they can be generated. The significance of these representations is discussed briefly.

The architecture of safety: hospital design

Purpose of reviewThis paper reviews recent research literature reporting the effects of hospital design on patient safety. Recent findingsFeatures of hospital design that are linked to patient safety in the literature include noise, air quality, lighting conditions, patient room design, unit layout, and several other interior design features. Some of these features act as latent conditions for adverse events, and impact safety outcomes directly and indirectly by impacting staff working conditions. Others act as barriers to adverse events by providing hospital staff with opportunities for preventing accidents before they occur. SummaryAlthough the evidence linking hospital design to patient safety is growing, much is left to be done in this area of research. Nevertheless, the evidence reported in the literature may already be sufficient to have a positive impact on hospital design.

Spatial Layout and Face-to-Face Interaction in Offices—A Study of the Mechanisms of Spatial Effects on Face-to-Face Interaction

In this paper we report a study that uses space-syntax theories and techniques to develop a model explaining how spatial layouts, through their effects on movement and visible copresence, may affect face-to-face interaction in offices. Though several previous space-syntax studies have shown that spatial layouts have significant effects on movement and face-to-face interaction in offices, none has investigated the relations among movement, visible copresence, and face-to-face interaction in offices with significantly different layouts. On the basis of statistical analyses of the spatial and behavioral data collected at four moderately large offices, this study shows that spatial layouts have consistent effects on movement, but inconsistent effects on visible copresence and face-to-face interaction; that visible copresence, not movement, is an important predictor of face-to-face interaction; that movement has negligible effects on the relationship between visible copresence and face-to-face interaction; and that functional programs have little or no effect on the culture of face-to-face interaction in these offices. Limitations of the research design for workplace study and implications of the research findings for workplace design and management are discussed.

Describing Plan Configuration According to the Covisibility of Surfaces

In this paper we propose and illustrate analytic techniques for the analysis of plans. Two issues are addressed: first, the characterization of individual surfaces according to the local and global patterns of visual connectivity between surfaces; second, the pattern of the smallest set of positions from which all surfaces become completely visible.

Developing Scales to Evaluate Staff Perception of the Effects of the Physical Environment on Patient Comfort, Patient Safety, Patient Privacy, Family Integration With Patient Care, and Staff Working Conditions in Adult Intensive Care Units: A Pilot Study

Studies suggest that the physical environment can be important for patient comfort, patient safety, patient privacy, family integration with patient care, and staff working condition in adult intensive care units (ICUs). In the absence of any measuring scales, however, evaluations of the physical environment of ICUs in terms of any of these dimensions have remained vague. For rigorous evaluations of ICU designs from the viewpoint of clinical staff, a self-report instrument with several multiple-item scales was created. These scales were tested in a pilot survey that was administered among a small group of nurse managers and ICU directors at several best practice example sites. Reliability analysis of the survey data showed some scales to be internally consistent. For the other scales, factor analysis revealed multiple components, which were then combined to create additional subscales. Using these scales and subscales, the underlying effects of design on staff perception were studied at the best practice example sites that participated in the pilot survey. The results, limitations, and the future directions of the study are discussed.

Development and reliability testing of a self-report instrument to measure the office layout as a correlate of occupational sitting

BackgroundSpatial configurations of office environments assessed by Space Syntax methodologies are related to employee movement patterns. These methods require analysis of floors plans which are not readily available in large population-based studies or otherwise unavailable. Therefore a self-report instrument to assess spatial configurations of office environments using four scales was developed.MethodsThe scales are: local connectivity (16 items), overall connectivity (11 items), visibility of co-workers (10 items), and proximity of co-workers (5 items). A panel cohort (N = 1154) completed an online survey, only data from individuals employed in office-based occupations (n = 307) were used to assess scale measurement properties. To assess test-retest reliability a separate sample of 37 office-based workers completed the survey on two occasions 7.7 (±3.2) days apart. Redundant scale items were eliminated using factor analysis; Chronbach’s α was used to evaluate internal consistency and test re-test reliability (retest-ICC). ANOVA was employed to examine differences between office types (Private, Shared, Open) as a measure of construct validity. Generalized Linear Models were used to examine relationships between spatial configuration scales and the duration of and frequency of breaks in occupational sitting.ResultsThe number of items on all scales were reduced, Chronbach’s α and ICCs indicated good scale internal consistency and test re-test reliability: local connectivity (5 items; α = 0.70; retest-ICC = 0.84), overall connectivity (6 items; α = 0.86; retest-ICC = 0.87), visibility of co-workers (4 items; α = 0.78; retest-ICC = 0.86), and proximity of co-workers (3 items; α = 0.85; retest-ICC = 0.70). Significant (p ≤ 0.001) differences, in theoretically expected directions, were observed for all scales between office types, except overall connectivity. Significant associations were observed between all scales and occupational sitting behaviour (p ≤ 0.05).ConclusionAll scales have good measurement properties indicating the instrument may be a useful alternative to Space Syntax to examine environmental correlates of occupational sitting in population surveys.

Two decades (1993-2012) of adult intensive care unit design: a comparative study of the physical design features of the best practice examples.

In 2006, Critical Care Nursing Quarterly published a study of the physical design features of a set of best practice example adult intensive care units (ICUs). These adult ICUs were awarded between 1993 and 2003 by the Society of Critical Care Medicine (SCCM), the American Association of Critical-Care Nurses, and the American Institute of Architects/Academy of Architecture for Health for their efforts to promote the critical care unit environment through design. Since 2003, several more adult ICUs were awarded by the same organizations for similar efforts. This study includes these newer ICUs along with those of the previous study to cover a period of 2 decades from 1993 to 2012. Like the 2006 study, this study conducts a systematic content analysis of the materials submitted by the award-winning adult ICUs. On the basis of the analysis, the study compares the 1993-2002 and 2003-2012 adult ICUs in relation to construction type, unit specialty, unit layout, unit size, patient room size and design, support and service area layout, and family space design. The study also compares its findings with the 2010 Guidelines for Design and Construction of Health Care Facilities of the Facility Guidelines Institute and the 2012 Guidelines for Intensive Care Unit Design of the SCCM. The study indicates that the award-winning ICUs of both decades used several design features that were associated with positive outcomes in research studies. The study also indicates that the award-winning ICUs of the second decade used more evidence-based design features than those of the first decades. In most cases, these ICUs exceeded the requirements of the Facility Guidelines Institute Guidelines to meet those of the SCCM Guidelines. Yet, the award-winning ICUs of both decades also used several features that had very little or no supporting research evidence. Since they all were able to create an optimal critical care environment for which they were awarded, having knowledge of the physical design of these award-winning ICUs may help design better ICUs.