“Creating a Perceptual Wayfinding Framework for Hospitals in North Central Nigeria: Enhancing Navigation in Healthcare Facilities”

“Creating a Perceptual Wayfinding Framework for Hospitals in North Central Nigeria: Enhancing Navigation in Healthcare Facilities”

Abstract:

Wayfinding, the task of navigating from a known location to an unknown destination in an unfamiliar environment, is particularly challenging in large complex buildings like teaching hospitals. The consequences of poor wayfinding can lead to missed medical appointments, anxiety, stress, getting lost, frustration, and even endanger lives in emergency situations. This study addresses the scarcity of research on this phenomenon in the north central region of Nigeria and aims to develop a perceptual wayfinding framework for teaching hospitals.

The research objectives include examining users’ perceptions of wayfinding, identifying critical factors influencing ease of wayfinding in hospital buildings, and evaluating the effectiveness of hospital design in relation to wayfinding performance. A mixed-method approach was employed, where four hospitals in the north central Nigeria were assessed using both quantitative and qualitative data collection methods. The study gathered data from 400 participants through a cross-sectional survey questionnaire, 56 respondents through interviews, and 16 participants through direct observation of wayfinding behavior in the hospitals.

The analysis of the data revealed that complex building configurations pose significant challenges for unfamiliar users in finding their destinations within hospital environments. The research identified seven critical factors with strong predictive power for wayfinding in hospitals: landmarks, clearly defined circulation spaces, route intersections, visual accessibility, verbal direction, building layout complexity, and signage. These factors exceed the recommended threshold of 0.4, indicating their significance in influencing the environmental legibility of hospitals.

Based on the research findings, a perceptual wayfinding framework was developed for hospitals in north central Nigeria. The framework incorporates the concepts of affordance and information needs to describe the visual perception of environmental cues. Visual ergonomics emerged as an essential aspect to consider in spatial wayfinding designs, highlighting the importance of visual cues in cue-searching.

Recommendations for hospital design include simplicity in building layouts, clear definition of circulation spaces in each zone, and distinct identification of each space. By implementing these suggestions, successful wayfinding can be facilitated, making cue searching and selection easier for users. Ultimately, architects, urban designers, and wayfinding specialists should take into account the identified critical factors to create more user-friendly hospital environments. Additionally, government policies on hospital designs should reflect these principles to improve overall wayfinding experiences for users.

“Creating a Perceptual Wayfinding Framework for Hospitals in North Central Nigeria: Enhancing Navigation in Healthcare Facilities”

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