Browsing by Author "Vale, Robert"

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Design Factors Related to Postpartum Environments: Preferences for Sense-Sensitive Spaces
(The Academy of Neuroscience for Architecture, 2018-09-22) Lawal, Lateef Ademola; Vale, Robert
Despite recent design improvements following person-centred care in hospital settings and birthing environments (Verderber, 2010; Stichler, 2007), the key elements for a restorative hospital postpartum environment are not known. Building design can affect psychological-emotional and physiological wellbeing of women who have hospital births (Foureur, et al., 2010). In postpartum spaces women are increasingly faced with noise and multiple disruptions from healthcare providers (Boehm, & Morast, 2009), triggering lack of sleep and rest, due to not having a single room (Eberhard et al., 2000). This situation also contributes in shaping midwifery practice by creating cognitive and emotional responses, for midwives who work in such spaces (Hammond, et al., 2014; Hammond, et al., 2013).
Inclusive Birth Supporters’ Space and Recovery Care in the Postnatal Hospital Environment
(University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, 2018-11-15) Lawal, Lateef Ademola; Vale, Robert
The social and emotional dimensions of childbirth and recovery suggest the inclusion of partners and childbirth supporters’ to facilitate the recovery phase of new mothers while in hospitals but the postnatal environment currently appears largely to ignore the role of women’s childbirth supporters or families. The aim of this paper is to identify specific design features for enabling and enhancing the birth supporters’ role in the hospital postnatal environment. An on-line questionnaire survey complemented with focus group interviews with women and midwives was used to determine the physical design features for birth support-centred spaces in New Zealand hospitals, The findings revealed a disconnect in appreciation of the role of childbirth supporters even though participants found the need for an inclusive total environment both for birth supporters and new mothers yet there were hindrances due to existing hospital policies. These issues suggest a need to increase facilitation of the role of supporters in the postnatal environment. A range of design features for fostering inclusiveness for birth supporters is provided. The integration of more supportive family spaces can potentially engender recovery, while also fostering improved competencies in new mothers.
Methodological Insights from Using a Mixed Methods Design in the Study of a Restorative Postnatal Hospital Environment
(International and Interdisciplinary Conference on Spatial Methods for Urban Sustainability (SMUS Conference), 2022-09-10) Lawal, Lateef Ademola; Vale, Robert
Over the past decade, the patient-centred care approach has been a prominent discourse for healthcare organisations and building designers on how to improve healthcare environments for patients’ satisfaction. This is due in part, to the growing awareness that physical design of hospitals has considerable impacts on patient’s recovery and health outcomes within healthcare environments. Women, who use hospitals for birth, are particularly vulnerable when it comes to sleep disruption and recovery. The unconducive and unrestful situations in hospitals, especially within the postnatal layouts of healthcare facilities are of concern to healthcare providers and caregivers with adverse health effects on the new mothers in terms of their recovery experiences and wellbeing. Additionally, the short hospital stays following the birth implies that women need an optimum environment that can facilitate the rest and recovery experience while in hospitals. This is a unique situation in that research in the childbirth environment has only focused on labour and birth experiences of women. Best and ideal restorative postnatal design features to facilitate the rest and recovery experience for women are unclear. This study utilised a mixed methods design (online questionnaire surveys and focus groups) as a likely effective way to understand the intricacies about short hospital stay, interactions of design layout and women’s wellbeing postnatally. This methodological paper aims to provide insights that may be beneficial to other researchers combining questionnaire surveys and focus groups as techniques, in the study of an ideal physical environment for optimum postnatal care. The paper discusses the process for engaging the participants (postnatal women and midwives), their backgrounds and experiences of the postnatal space, especially in large, tertiary hospitals, the vision of postnatal care in an ideal world and how to analyse the rich, multiple perspectives that contribute to an understanding of a restorative postnatal hospital environment. The paper outlines some of the best practices regarding design features that could be beneficial to care givers for effective and quality postnatal care for women prior to going home.