School of Architectural Technology (SAT)

Now showing 1 - 7 of 7

Designing Recovery: Women and Midwives’ Perspectives on Design Factors in The Postnatal Hospital Environment
(International Journal of Architecture, Arts and Applications, 2025-06) Lawal, Lateef Ademola
Background: The postnatal phase is a critical time for women to rest and to recover after giving birth, and the hospital environment can influence the wellbeing experiences of new mothers. Existing research found aspects of the physical environments that are supportive of women during labour and birth, but research focusing on the environmental factors in postnatal environments, where women recover after birth, is limited and important. Purpose: The study investigated environmental factors and spatial features in postnatal environments that make an impact on women’s physical recovery and wellbeing following birth. Methods: Data were collected through online survey questionnaires from 229 postnatal women who gave birth in New Zealand hospitals and from 58 midwives (N = 287) who worked in postnatal settings. Midwives recruited women and their colleagues using a snowball sampling method and provided dedicated links to women and midwives to access the online survey questionnaires. Midwives filled out identical questionnaires as women; the only difference was data related to their demographic characteristics. Descriptive statistics and the independent-samples t-test were used to analyse the data. Results: Women’s and midwives’ have strong preferences for single-occupancy rooms, visual or physical connection to the outdoors, and views of nature, all of which were ranked significantly high, indicating both women and midwives desire personal control in the space, as well as connections to the outside during postnatal hospitalisation. The study participants also indicated a strong preference for air quality and room freshness, adequate daylight in the room, art and nature images and the presence of colours in the interior spaces. These design features were thought to be critical design elements for promoting rest, recovery and psychological wellbeing in postnatal settings. Conclusions: The results of this study highlight the importance of several key environmental design features, providing beneficial insights into women’s psychological recovery and wellbeing and suggesting the need for awareness by architects, and healthcare providers for creating restorative postnatal healthcare settings for women following birth.
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.
IMPLICATIONS OF RESIDENTIAL HOUSING EXPOSURE TO URBAN ENVIRONMENTAL NOISE ON RESIDENT’S WELLBEING IN MINNA, NIGERIA
(In Journal of Khulna University Studies, 2022) Akande, O. K.; Adenle,A. A.; Emechebe, L. C.; Lembi, J. J.; Ahmed, S.; Eze, C. J.; Ajayi, M. R
Environmental noise constitutes a major contributor to environmental pollution, with its unintended consequences posing a serious challenge to public health in the built environment. This study assessed the perception and the implications of urban environmental noise on urban residents' wellbeing. Data was collected using a sound pressure level meter and a self-developed questionnaire. Findings from eight hundred and eighty (880) responses obtained through random sampling were analysed and benchmarked against national (50 dBA) and international (55 dBA) standards by the WHO. The results showed that noise from places of worship and traffic noise were rated high, with about 75 percent of the respondents indicating that environmental noise negatively impacts their wellbeing. The study suggested the need for improved environmental quality in the built environment. It advocated for synergistic interventions from architects, other built environment professionals, and environmental protection agencies to tackle urban environmental pollution in residential environments. The contribution of this research lies in the necessity for further investigation, since it has important ramifications for architects, urban planners, and urban managers.
Furniture Design
Interior Architecture Design
Landscape Architecture
Architecture

School of Architectural Technology (SAT)

School of Architectural Technology (SAT)

Browse

Filters

Settings

Sort By

Results per page

Search Results