Immersion can simplify what the world around you to concentrate on what is important.
Immersion in most real life spaces has the goal of either being as good as it can be so you stay for as long as you can or so you come back many times to make the people running the place more money. But there are some place you can go no matter how immersive they are you will not want to come back to. This is where the example of immersion of hospitals comes in. The only people who go there on a regular basis is the people who work there. Immersion is not a one of the key purposes of space. It is almost purely built for function. Due to complications when trying to visit the inside of the hospitals the audit could only be made of the reception area.
Hospital reception areas are made essentially to either wait in or direct patients or visitors to where they need to go deeper inside the hospital or if they can’t to keep them relaxed. The target audience or market are patients. They can be any age, be from anywhere speak any language and they can come from anywhere. There is no specific type of person who is supposed to be in there. The patients are being engaged in every reception area slightly differently due to constraints on the size or shape of the building it is in. The commonalities of the different places I went to are that all the reception desks stood out whether that was with bight lights, a contrasting colour to the rest of the area it is signed posted well or it is the first thing patients or visitors see when they walk in the front door. They all also had some kind of seating arrangement and also had signs directing patients or visitors towards the different parts of the buildings. It was also quiet in every reception. There is also many differences between the different receptions and these all depended on the size and shape of the buildings they were in. While most have had some sort of combination of hard floor and carpet some only had one or there were some that had art and others that didn’t. Some had cafés with tables to sit at, some cafés were just a shop in the wall and a others had no café at all. Some had no smell while others smelled clean. There was a notably strong antiseptic smell on entry of the St. Vincent’s Public Building A area. A major outlier during the visits to the different spaces was the St Vincent’s Public BreastScreen. It had a much less clinical feeling, there was couches and magazines to read, the walls were painted cream colour rather than the usual white. This was all to give women a more relaxed tone as some can be nervous going into a breast screen. As for the other areas I went to it is assumed that the patients could be waiting for a while so it needs to be comfortable and calm because they could be in a high stress situation whether it is them or a relative or friend who is having some kind health problem.
The objectives of the areas visitors have been achieved very well. It seemed that everyone who was entering the building could figure out where to go by themselves or if the could not they could just ask. The elements that were responsible for the success of the receptions was the signs that were posted anywhere necessary. This is due to in the past hospitals being difficult for patients to find there way around so this led to hospitals making it much easier to find where to go with these signs. Another element that is responsible for success is the way the receptionist desks start out from the rest of the area. This is done in many ways having it right in front as soon as patients or visitors enter so it is almost impossible to miss. It could be a contrasting colour to the rest of the area or by lighting it up bright so it stands out. These help people who are unsure about where to go find there way around by finding a person who can give them answers easily. To keep people relaxed it was very common to have a café or coffee shop in the reception area to where patients or visitors can get food or drinks from to distract them from what could possibly be going on. There is also some kind of seating area so visitors or patients can sit down whilst they are waiting. There is also art that could also keep them distracted. As for improvements it is quite difficult to say what can be changed as it is what goes on inside the hospital that has a major effect in how the reception runs. The doctors can only see patients at a certain speed that can vary wildly depending on the circumstances they are in. Music could be added to the area but it is impossible for everyone in the reception area to be happy with the music that is playing and with phones now anyone can listen to whatever they want whilst they are waiting.
The experience of immersion in the reception area of the hospital is to be on radar and off radar. The parts that are meant to be on radar are the signs so patients or visitors know where to go. The reception desk so they can see it easily. The coffee shops and restaurants are also meant to be on radar to distract them and to keep them happy. There are also the off radar parts, the smell of the areas gives the feeling of it being a clean place and the lack of music in most places keep the tone quiet. The scenes that are being invoked all five of the traditional senses, with taste being invoked if some kind of food is bought from one of the restaurants of cafés. The scene of temperate is being invoked with the place being kept at a very normal temperature, not too hot or cold. The fence of agency or control is invoked in almost a comply opposite way. Once patients or visitors enter the reception area they are almost automatically being told where to go through the signs or the receptionist telling them. These are all being made by in inference due to the place being made to be extra functional. To make it seem to the patients that everything is just as normal as outside the hospital. Although it could be argued that they all could be specifically there to make it feel as normal as possible, to give patients a sense of calm. The relationships of the senses are managed by making some things making most of the smell, taste, touch, hearing temperature and agency to be something visitors and patients don’t think about whilst entering and they can concentrate on finding the signs or the receptionists desk using sight so they can find where to go next. In the reception area there is very minimal subject variability. This is done with a large limitation on the stimuli that are coming at the people coming into the building. The results of this are that the area is a quiet place with minimal confusion to allow the people in it to be calm and not to think about the place they are in.
Immersion in hospital reception area is used as a calming agent or distraction to what could be going on in the peoples lives entering it. This is especially important due to the fact that it literally could be a life or death situation that they are at the hospital to be a part of. It is different to most places as the goal of it isn’t to keep you in there. It simplifies things by giving you minimal stimulants so you don’t have to worry about what is going on around the visitor or patient, with minimal noise, the smell of nothing, food is easily obtainable, areas to sit are easily accessible, you can concentrate on the important things.
Unfortunately I am unable to show any pictures I took in case any personal information of any patients is in them.
Bibliography
Carpman, J. and Grant, M. (2016). Design that cares. San Francisco, Calif.: Jossey-Bass.
Coad, J. and Coad, N. (2008). Children and young people’s preference of thematic design and colour for their hospital environment. Journal of Child Health Care
Dalke, H., Littlefair, P. and Loe, D. (2004). Lighting and colour for hospital and design. London: Stationery Office.
Karlin, B. and Zeiss, R. (2006). Best Practices: Environmental and Therapeutic Issues in
Psychiatric Hospital Design: Toward Best Practices. Psychiatric Services
Nelson-Shulman, Y. (1983). Information and Environmental Stress: Report of a Hospital Intervention. Journal of Environmental Systems
List of Stimuli
St Vincent’s Private
Open, Dim, cafe(noises, smell) reception stands out(bright lights), directions front and centre immediately viewable on entrance, people talking, no music, carpet and hard floor, lifts stand out )contrast in colour)
St Vincent’s Public Building A
Antiseptic Smell, Bright, small coffee shop, lifts front and centre bright, reception desk bright, signs every where, quiet, hard floor, carpet near seating area, no music, aboriginal art on the walls
St Vincent’s Public Building D
Quiet, less open, reception desk bright, long corridor rooms coming off it, art on walls, hard floors no carpet, some windows, direction lines on floor, seating , no music, no smell, no coffee, lots of signs
St Vincent’s Public Building B
No music, floral smell, hard floors small amount of seats, shops quiet, little amount of people, signs everywhere, info desk front and centre, lifts dark off to side, restaurants
St Vincent’s Public C11 BreastScreen
Desk is immediately seen, music, couches, carpet, quiet, bright, drinks self serve, no smell, art of women on wall, no shops, non clinical, staff talkative, no people
St Vincent’s Public C25 Heart Centre
Quiet, no music, reception desk bright, carpet, stained glass door frame, fake plants, no windows, drawing on wall, no smell, 1 picture, signs to other room, no people
Eye and Ear Hospital
Bright, lifts in front, signs everywhere, aircon noise, no smell, hard floor,, carpet in seating area, coffee shop cafe, reception front and centre colour contrast bright, small amount of people
St Vincent’s Public Building F
Hard floor, vending machine fan, dead quiet, no smell, small bits of art, signs everywhere, no shops, older style, seats, bright, reception desk bright,
Cabrini Hospital Malvern
Carpet, heating, doors, quiet, clean smell, art on walls, signs everywhere, receptionist desk bright, lifts clear well lit seats, seats segregated, fake plants, no music
Masada Private Hospital
Small, coffee shop, receptionist desk front and centre, carpet, fan, lifts bright, clear signs, art, seating, no smell, small, well lit, vending machine fan, no music, staff no patients
Caulfield Hospital
Smell of food, carpet hard floor, seating, cafe, TV, well lit, signs everywhere, receptionist not easily seen but clearly labeled, lifts labeled, fan hum, patients
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