Identification and analysis of post-occupancy evaluation tools in the interior spaces of healthcare centers

Document Type : Review Article

Authors

1 Ph.D. Candidate, School of Architecture, College of Fine Arts, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran

2 Associate Professor, School of Architecture, College of Fine Arts, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran

Abstract

The optimal environment in health and care spaces has a positive effect on various health-related outcomes, such as length of stay, resource consumption, and stress. In this regard, monitoring internal built environment evaluation tools will impact how we evaluate and improve the quality of these spaces. This research aims to review existing review studies that have summarized and assessed various quality assessment tools for the physical environments of medical centers. It also aims to analyze studies that have compared and evaluated environment assessment tools in interior spaces designed for healthcare facilities to determine the areas in which comprehensive investigations have been undertaken in this domain. Furthermore, it seeks to ascertain the foundations upon which these studies have established their focus areas and classification criteria for the tools. Lastly, the study seeks to identify any discernible deficiencies or opportunities in these studies. There are only scattered studies focused on developing assessment tools for healthcare environments. This study adopted an umbrella review approach and a comprehensive perspective to evaluate and analyze the literature. A systematic review was conducted in the Medline, CINAHL, WOS, and PubMed databases. The selected articles were subjected to meta-analysis. This method uses statistical methods to synthesize and analyze data and findings from a systematic review. In the review of articles with related keywords, 623 review articles were found. After reviewing the abstracts and titles of these articles and finally removing the articles that did not meet the research criteria, a total of 8 studies met the research criteria. Three reviews focus on tools used in the departments of oncology, emergency care, and dementia care. Two review studies investigate the orientation of tools along two axes: sustainability/health and functional/theoretical. Additionally, three other review studies analyze policymaking in adopting evaluation strategies, validation of tools, and tools that consider the flexibility of spaces. The analysis reveals that many tools in the interior spaces of healthcare centers are outdated and lack solid contemporary theoretical foundations. Although many tools were found for measuring the quality of the physical health environment, these tools failed to observe the necessary distribution and allocation in critical parts of the hospital. By reading this article, experts and managers in the healthcare field will gain insights into how to evaluate these spaces and understand the progress made in this area to date. Also, reading this article will help architects, interior designers, researchers, and healthcare space managers make better decisions in evaluating and improving the interior spaces of these centers, facilitating the comparison of physical environment assessment tools in health and care centers, introducing physical environment evaluation tools available in health and care spaces, and recognizing the study gap in the field of evaluating the internal environment of health and care centers. Incorporating assessment tools, indicators, and interior design elements like acoustics, lighting, and spatial planning, along with architecture and design concepts, enhances the potential for uncovering fresh insights in the systematic review.

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References

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Journal of Architecture and Urban Planning
Volume 18, Issue 48
September 2025
Pages 114-135

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