The impact of COVID-19 on visitors' wayfinding within healthcare centers
The novel COVID-19 pandemic has caused substantial calamities in developing countries such as Iran, which initially suffered from inadequate infrastructure essential for the pandemic control. Due to the ongoing development of this malady, healthcare centers are recognized as one of the most signific...
| Main Authors: | , , , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Elsevier
2023-05-01
|
| Series: | Ain Shams Engineering Journal |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2090447922002684 |
| _version_ | 1797961119297437696 |
|---|---|
| author | Elham Mehrinejad Khotbehsara Reza Askarizad Maryam Mehrinejad Sara Nourmusavi Nasab Kathirgamalingam Somasundaraswaran |
| author_facet | Elham Mehrinejad Khotbehsara Reza Askarizad Maryam Mehrinejad Sara Nourmusavi Nasab Kathirgamalingam Somasundaraswaran |
| author_sort | Elham Mehrinejad Khotbehsara |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | The novel COVID-19 pandemic has caused substantial calamities in developing countries such as Iran, which initially suffered from inadequate infrastructure essential for the pandemic control. Due to the ongoing development of this malady, healthcare centers are recognized as one of the most significant hotspots within public settings so they are directly pertinent to the physical and mental health of visitors. The main objective for conducting the present study is to investigate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the visitors' wayfinding procedure within Qa'em hospital, located in Rasht, northern Iran. The adopted methodology in the present study is based on a comparison between the collected data regarding the wayfinding behavior of visitors before and after the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic using mixed methods, namely Space Syntax, gate counting, people following, and semi-structured interviews. The obtained empirical results displayed that visitors were significantly confused and hesitant throughout their wayfinding process after the outbreak of the pandemic. Indeed, spatial accessibility and legibility were not found to be adequate for facilitating the wayfinding of the visitors. Moreover, the requirements for the reconfiguration of furniture layout in the waiting areas, according to the underlying notions of social distancing, became conspicuous as the pragmatic implications for the post-pandemic healthcare centers. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-11T00:54:26Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-64eccf9d74934618950d34b01cd7f6f5 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2090-4479 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-11T00:54:26Z |
| publishDate | 2023-05-01 |
| publisher | Elsevier |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Ain Shams Engineering Journal |
| spelling | doaj.art-64eccf9d74934618950d34b01cd7f6f52023-01-05T06:46:58ZengElsevierAin Shams Engineering Journal2090-44792023-05-01145101957The impact of COVID-19 on visitors' wayfinding within healthcare centersElham Mehrinejad Khotbehsara0Reza Askarizad1Maryam Mehrinejad2Sara Nourmusavi Nasab3Kathirgamalingam Somasundaraswaran4Faculty of Health, Engineering and Sciences, University of Southern Queensland, Toowoomba, AustraliaThe Center for Modern Chinese City Studies, Institute of Urban Development, East China Normal University, Shanghai 200062, China; Urban Planning and Spatial Development Department, School of Architecture, Universidad Politécnica de Madrid, Madrid, Spain; Corresponding author.Razi Hospital, Rasht, Gilan, IranDepartment of Architecture, University of Guilan, Rasht, IranFaculty of Health, Engineering and Sciences, University of Southern Queensland, Toowoomba, AustraliaThe novel COVID-19 pandemic has caused substantial calamities in developing countries such as Iran, which initially suffered from inadequate infrastructure essential for the pandemic control. Due to the ongoing development of this malady, healthcare centers are recognized as one of the most significant hotspots within public settings so they are directly pertinent to the physical and mental health of visitors. The main objective for conducting the present study is to investigate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the visitors' wayfinding procedure within Qa'em hospital, located in Rasht, northern Iran. The adopted methodology in the present study is based on a comparison between the collected data regarding the wayfinding behavior of visitors before and after the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic using mixed methods, namely Space Syntax, gate counting, people following, and semi-structured interviews. The obtained empirical results displayed that visitors were significantly confused and hesitant throughout their wayfinding process after the outbreak of the pandemic. Indeed, spatial accessibility and legibility were not found to be adequate for facilitating the wayfinding of the visitors. Moreover, the requirements for the reconfiguration of furniture layout in the waiting areas, according to the underlying notions of social distancing, became conspicuous as the pragmatic implications for the post-pandemic healthcare centers.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2090447922002684Coronavirus (COVID-19)Healthcare centersPandemic (Epidemic)Space syntaxWayfinding |
| spellingShingle | Elham Mehrinejad Khotbehsara Reza Askarizad Maryam Mehrinejad Sara Nourmusavi Nasab Kathirgamalingam Somasundaraswaran The impact of COVID-19 on visitors' wayfinding within healthcare centers Ain Shams Engineering Journal Coronavirus (COVID-19) Healthcare centers Pandemic (Epidemic) Space syntax Wayfinding |
| title | The impact of COVID-19 on visitors' wayfinding within healthcare centers |
| title_full | The impact of COVID-19 on visitors' wayfinding within healthcare centers |
| title_fullStr | The impact of COVID-19 on visitors' wayfinding within healthcare centers |
| title_full_unstemmed | The impact of COVID-19 on visitors' wayfinding within healthcare centers |
| title_short | The impact of COVID-19 on visitors' wayfinding within healthcare centers |
| title_sort | impact of covid 19 on visitors wayfinding within healthcare centers |
| topic | Coronavirus (COVID-19) Healthcare centers Pandemic (Epidemic) Space syntax Wayfinding |
| url | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2090447922002684 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT elhammehrinejadkhotbehsara theimpactofcovid19onvisitorswayfindingwithinhealthcarecenters AT rezaaskarizad theimpactofcovid19onvisitorswayfindingwithinhealthcarecenters AT maryammehrinejad theimpactofcovid19onvisitorswayfindingwithinhealthcarecenters AT saranourmusavinasab theimpactofcovid19onvisitorswayfindingwithinhealthcarecenters AT kathirgamalingamsomasundaraswaran theimpactofcovid19onvisitorswayfindingwithinhealthcarecenters AT elhammehrinejadkhotbehsara impactofcovid19onvisitorswayfindingwithinhealthcarecenters AT rezaaskarizad impactofcovid19onvisitorswayfindingwithinhealthcarecenters AT maryammehrinejad impactofcovid19onvisitorswayfindingwithinhealthcarecenters AT saranourmusavinasab impactofcovid19onvisitorswayfindingwithinhealthcarecenters AT kathirgamalingamsomasundaraswaran impactofcovid19onvisitorswayfindingwithinhealthcarecenters |