The Patient Room: what is the ideal solution? - Cornell University

What previous studies have shown:
Single Patient Room and Social Support
• Patient pain is reduced and physiological outcomes improve as a direct
result of social support from nurses, families and significant others in the
hospital environment
• In Finland, researchers found that in 193 bypass grafting patients, when
inner-hospital social support was high, the patients experienced less fear
and anxiety
• Social support in regards to patient-family social interaction helped
patient’s physiological outcomes and enhanced patient progress
• “Family presence and their social support through touching, talking, and
surveillance helped patients to deal with their treatments better and
facilitated their clinical progress.”
• Social support for families also reduces family stress in addition to
patient stress, and enhances a family’s satisfaction of a particular hospital
(Ulrich, 2008)
Kaiser Permanente rethinking of patient room
(New York Times, 2009)
(New York Times, 2009)
Single patient room as a means for social support:
Social interaction is facilitated by lounge-like settings, comfortable furniture
in flexible arrangements that are conducive to gathering and talking. The
single patient room allows for more space for incorporating these things
than a double or multi-bed room. The increased privacy in a single patient
room also makes it easier and more comfortable for family members of
patients to spend time and socialize with their loved one. Overall, single
rooms are significantly more accommodating for family members, which
ultimately enhances the social support the family is able to provide for the
patient.
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