Spatial Behavior in Modern Hospital Examination Spaces

Spatial formations in contemporary hospitals affect the behaviors of people who provide and receive healthcare. In this study, the current state of the hospital concept was examined and it was understood that these structures were not places merely where health procedures were performed. It is stated that there is a decreasing trend in the number of inpatients in hospitals around the world and this trend is partly based on the advances achieved in the pharmaceutical sector. Today, it is revealed that these structures are designed to support health. Health institutions serving in our country were evaluated in terms of their bed numbers and new trends in health concept were discussed. The descriptions of the sick person, the disease and their well-being were made and the stages of people s acceptance of their illness were emphasized. The stages of realization of human behavior: perception, cognition and the realization of behavior have been examined. After the initiation of the behavior, the communication of the human with the place begins. Human behavior in hospital buildings has been examined within the framework of the following key concepts: orientation behavior, which examines the actions of living things in line with their needs; privacy, which is the condition for individuals to approach each other at an optimum distance; personalization of the spaces that one feels to belong to; personal space, where individuals create an uneven space between themselves and others; area of dominance, a limited area protected by a person or a group; the feeling of trust, which is the belief that one side will create positive results for the other party for their own interests, and finally the backstage behavior in which people prepare for their daily activities. The communication between the doctor and the patient within the hospital structures has an asymmetrical character as the person in question is sick. Based on this situation, the patient examination rooms, which are one of the places where such relationship is established in hospital buildings, has been the focus of this study; namely the Department of Plastic, Reconstructive and Esthetic Surgery of Hacettepe University Hospital. It is considered that a properly designed spatial setup will have positive effects on the sense of trust that patients will feel towards the doctor and the health institution. The article discusses the reflections of the emotions that will occur as a result of the time spent in the examination areas on the behaviors of these individuals. It is observed that hospital spaces have to be transformed to meet the emotional and physiological needs of patients and healthcare professionals. It is expected that the asymmetrical dimension of the relationship between people and space will be rearranged to meet the needs of patients and healthcare professionals.