Designing a patient room: the process of stakeholders’ involvement

Background: Research has shown the impact of hospital design on patient outcomes. There is a growing body of evidence how a patient room should look like from the designers, professional or patients point of view. However little research has brought the perspectives of these three user groups together. Aim: This paper aimed to describe the stepped process of stakeholders involvement when designing a patient room. Methods: A three phased study was set-up. First, based on literature, regulation and designer experiences, eight discrete choices were developed concerning the design of the patient room. Second, professionals, patients and visitors took part in an online video-animated survey representing the discrete choices. Subsequently, in a third phase, two mock up rooms were built to assess the functionality. Focus group session were conducted with purposively selected participants. Discussion: To involve the stakeholders’ perspectives into the development process is a time consuming approach. It contributes to identify principles on which patients’ and professionals’ preferences are based. It also enhanced the professionals’ commitment.