Determining the components of the structural characteristics assessment tool for the age-friendly hospitals

Objectives: Since hospitals are one of the most prolific and vital areas for the elderly, and the evaluation of the present situation is one of the first steps to create an appropriate environment, this study was aimed at determing effective factors in an assessing tool for evaluating the structural characteristics of age- friendly hospitals. Methods: In this methodological research, a list of items was provided based on existing components for other age-friendly environments such as city, park, sanatorium and home. Then, the content validity was determined using a panel of experts including civil engineers, architects, ergonomists, and gerontologists, and the determination of face validity with a team of evaluators including MSC Gerontology, occupational health, environmental health and ergonomics. Results: With the help of the research team, 194 primary items in 20 domains were reduced to 100 in 19 domains. Content validity and face validity processes reduced the number of items to 72 items and 17 domains, respectively. Conclusions: Findings of this research by determining the present conditon and identifing suitable ergonomics interventions could be effective to promote comfort, safety, and independency of aged pepople in hospitals.