次世代醫療療癒環境的智慧尋路設計

Abstract

「在醫院裡迷路」不僅困擾醫院訪客，也是醫院管理人員的夢魘。2010年開始，本人的研究團隊受台大醫院急診部之邀請，就空間與動線設計方面尋找可能造成尋路問題的根源，並提出院方可接受的解決方案。在一連串改善醫院尋路設計的研究之中，我們發現當建築空間已經完成，能更動的有限，面對醫院訪客尋路上的諸多不滿，醫院管理者和設計者僅能就空間與動線規劃的現狀增加或修改較有彈性的公共標示設計。因此，如果大型醫院不能跳脫出傳統的設計思維，解決尋路問題的方案永遠只能停留在治標不治本的公共標示設計。 本人有幸在永齡基金會的贊助下加入永齡XLab團隊一同進行籌備建置台大癌症醫院的研究。以「次世代醫療療癒環境中的智慧尋路設計」為主題，運用實證研究為工具，在21世紀網路科技世代的醫院探索以使用者為中心思考的理想尋路設計。研究子題包括(1)探討醫療環境中理想的尋路設計思維；(2)室內導航科技與BIM(Building Information Modeling)技術在未來智慧尋路設計的應用；(3)傳統醫院的的尋路設計缺失：空間因素、使用者因素與標示因素； (4) 分析台灣民眾應用現有尋路科技與工具的風格分類與策略；(5)國際化符碼的本土化與符碼在建築標示設計上的理想應用方式。 研究之始，為了尋求理想的次世代醫院尋路設計，我們從文獻中查找在醫院設計領域獲得卓越成就的國內外醫院經驗，取法其成功背後重要的研究方法並了解其原則。我們認為，要改善尋路者在醫院中迷路的問題，創造更友善的醫院尋路環境，設計者應從更高的層級來思考尋路設計，也就是從設計之始便納入以病人為中心、以醫療流程設計為導向及運用創新科技的智慧尋路設計，是一種以管理為導向的整體思維。接著我們進入台大醫院急診室，以尋路實測探討國內醫療院所的尋路問題細節，發現若醫院管理單位想要在不變動建築空間規劃的前提下解決醫院訪客迷路的問題，可以就以下兩方面進行分析與研究：(1)使用者因素； (2)標示系統的改善。 因此，我們在使用者因素方面，運用問卷調查法以及因素分析法，針對使用者在尋路策略和尋路工具偏好上進行探究與分析，發現人們依照個人的(1)尋路能力、(2)概觀策略、(3)地圖策略三種因素，可分類為八種尋路風格。我們訪談其中六個類型的使用者，了解他們對現有尋路工具的偏好及意見。期望尋路工具在從傳統到未來的進程中，仍能照顧到各種使用者的需要。 在標示系統的改善對策方面，我們運用問卷調查法進行了一系列關於醫療符碼的研究，期望能藉由醫療資訊的圖像化，幫助人們利用標示系統有限的版面空間獲得正確的尋路資訊。研究成果包括：(1)檢討將美國跨文化醫療符碼移植到台灣時的成敗因素；(2)發展一套屬於台灣的本土化醫療符碼。最後，為了檢驗符碼設計在實際尋路任務中的應用的方式與效果，我們與台大癌症醫院籌備處合作，運用WeBIM ArchVIZ以虛擬實境的方式將符碼模擬於實際的醫院公共標示系統，使用訪談法收集受試者資料，提出對次世代醫院尋路設計上的應用方式的初步建議。

Poor hospital wayfinding planning can cause confusion for visitors and staff. In 2010, at the invitation of the ER Department of National Taiwan University Hospital (NTUH), our research team attempted to identify the causes of, and possible solutions for, hospital navigation problems. We discovered that addressing wayfinding problems at the level of the physical layout is a difficult task. Once hospital construction is completed, any modifications and improvements are usually limited to public signage design, since changing the space and corridor arrangement of the existing building is relatively difficult. In order to facilitate a more user-friendly hospital wayfinding system, designers should try to “think outside the box” and solve problems at a higher level of design thinking. This research was supported by the Yong-Ling Health Foundation. Its goal is to develop an ideal prototype of wayfinding design for the NTUH Cancer Center which is still under construction. Sub-topics include: (1) effective wayfinding planning for next-generation hospitals; (2) next-generation indoor wayfinding technology and building information modeling technology; (3) problems with wayfinding design in traditional hospitals, such as space arrangement problems, user factors, and signage complexity; (4) wayfinding persona typification according to popular wayfinding strategies and technologies used in Taiwan; and (5) the development of a set of local, cross-cultural healthcare symbols, together with suggestions for their application. At the beginning of the research, we looked up the discovery of some local and international hospitals which have got outstanding achievements in the field of hospital design, tried to follow their key methods, and understand their principles. Wayfinding design of the next-generation hospitals should be user-centered and medical procedure-oriented, as well as navigation-technology-adopted. It is a management-oriented integrated program. Then we investigated how people find their way in the ER of NTUH to identify details of wayfinding problems in a Taiwanese traditional hospital. According to the results, to prevent people from getting lost in the hospital without changing the space arrangement, researchers can focus on user factors as well as signage improvement. In the aspect of user factors, a questionnaire along with factor analysis method were used to categorize subjects’ wayfinding strategies. Eight wayfinding persona types were identified according to three user’s personal factors: (1)wayfinding ability; (2) overview strategy; and (3)map strategy. We interviewed six subjects out of six different groups from all eight wayfinding persona types, in order to investigate their preferences and opinions about present wayfinding tools. We expected this result could contribute itself to the development of future wayfinding tools which meet different persona-types-users’ needs. In the aspect of signage improvement, a series of survey about healthcare symbols was used to improve problems due to signage defects. By graphically representing the text in space of limited signage layout, it can help people acquire correct and needed wayfinding information effectively. Our contribution includes: (1) to evaluate the effectiveness of using Universal Health Symbols, from a Taiwanese local perspective, and to analyze the factors that would influence transplanting Universal Health Symbols into Taiwan. (2) to develop a set of local healthcare symbols. Finally, we cooperated with Preparatory office of NTUH cancer center, simulated the healthcare symbols in the wayfinding system with WeBIM ArchVIZ in a virtual reality NTUH cancer center space. By interviewing subjects with a semi- structural questionnaire, we collected data and tried to offer preliminary application suggestions of symbols for a new wayfinding system in the healthcare space.