Optimum Healing Spaces of Public Areas for Children Aged 4 to 12 in Malaysian Hospitals

Abstract

Hospitals are evolving to cater its patients’ needs that emphasis on promotive rather than curative healthcare that should become more patients-centric with greater attention paid especially young patients with families and visitors that come regularly to visit these young patients. This research deals with the possible healing environment that caters children while being hospitalized and children are prone to feel unfamiliar of new surroundings, the environment is scary, depressed and frustrated of being hospitalized. The aim is to understand the characteristic in creating an environment that would decrease children anxiety. The research design will look into a concise area of the public spaces in all the three cases analysed.

And method used in this paper is mostly through site visits to the case studies and taken photographs of physical observations at public spaces where the general public would experience the environment. The findings would look into three exemplar hospital design that has expertise on children health care in Malaysia and Singapore. The analysis of the cases data will identify whether these case studies comply with the design characteristic and how can it be improved. In conclusion, the research can give a little contribution in the hospital environment settings and creates exciting hospital that applies also for children.