Evaluating the effect of using biophilic design and architecture strategies on the improvement of physical and mental health indicators of patients admitted to selected hospitals from the perspective of architectures, patients and patiens’ companions

  Introduction: The revolution in hospital design is called biophilic design; because the application of biophilic design in hospitals is one of the cornerstones of the humanization of health centers and hospitals. In this regard, the aim of this study was to Evaluating the effect of using biophilic design and architecture strategies on the improvement of physical and mental health indicators of patients admitted to selected hospitals from the perspective of architectures, patients and patiens’ companions and health care and medical. Methods: The present study was applied in terms of purpose and mixed type, and the qualitative part was based on systematic review method and thematic analysis which was performed on data obtained through surveys of experts using Delphi technique. And quantitative part was based on structural equation modeling (SEM) with partial least squares approach and one way ANOVA with Tukey's post hoc tests. The statistical population was in the systematic review section of the present study all internal and external articles indexed in valid scientific sites during 2000-2022 that contained the keywords, "Biophilic Design / Architecture", "Biophilic Design / Architecture Strategies", "Physical / Mental Health", "Hospital / Clinics" and "Health centers / Medical centers", so that 44 of them met the inclusion criteria and were selected by judgmental sampling method. The statistical population was in the thematic analysis section the present study was all elites, experts and faculty members of architectural university and executive activists in the field of biophilic design, 8 of whom were selected by purposive sampling method. Also, the statistical population in the quantitative part of the present study was all architects and executive activists in the field of biophilic design and health care and medical and patiens’ companions and patients admitted to selected hospitals, 600 of whom were selected by convenience sampling method. The participants responded to Short Form Health Survey (Ware and Sherbourne, 1992) and researcher-made questionnaire containing 75 items whose reliability was 0.895 based on Cronbach's alpha coefficient and 0.872 based on composite reliability coefficient. Data analysis was done using IBM SPSS Modeler 25, R Studio 9.2 and IBM SPSS Statistics 26 softwares and the significance level of all tests was considered 0.05. Results: The Findings showed that the theoretical framework for biophilic design and architecture strategies in healthcare environments consists of 75 descriptive themes, 18 interpretive themes and 3 overarching themes. The model had an acceptable fitting for the purpose which was based on R2Physical=0.826, R2Mental=0.832, Q2Physical=0.451, Q2Mental=0.476, RMSEPhysical=0.027, RMSEMental=0.034, SRMRPhysical=0.027, SRMRMental=0.034 and GOF=0.970 indices. architectures, patients and patiens’ companions and health care and medical believe that the applying natural analogues strategies have the greatest impact on physical health (β=0.621) and applying nature in space strategies have the greatest impact on mental health (β=0.711). As well as according to view of the architectures (µ=3.53) and patients (µ=3.96), applying natural analogues strategies and according to the view of the and patiens’ companions (µ=3.69) and health care and medical (µ=3.95) applying nature in space strategies has the greatest effect on the improvement of physical and mental health indicators of patients admitted to hospital. Conclusions: Therefore, the results showed that based on the view of the architectures, patients and patiens’ companions and health care and medical, applying biophilic design and architecture strategies, by creating a suitable and pleasant environment, it directly and indirectly affects the physical and mental condition of the patient. So led to improvement of physical and mental health indicators of patients admitted to hospital. Also, it changes the speed and process of treatment. The efficiency and effectiveness of the treatment staff and health care and medical and as well as the mental state of the patient's companions are also affected by this design.