BACKGROUND: Hospital care is still an integral part of mental healthcare services. But the impact of ward design on treatment outcomes is unclear. AIMS: To review the effects of ward design on patient outcomes and patient and staff well-being. METHOD: A systematic review of literature was carried out on Medline, Embase and PsycINFO. Papers on psychogeriatric and child and adolescent wards were excluded as these necessitate specific safety features. RESULTS: Twenty-three papers were identified. No strong causal links between design and clinical outcomes were found. Private spaces and a homely environment may contribute to patient well-being. Different stakeholders may experience ward design in conflicting ways; design has a symbolic and social dimension for patients. CONCLUSIONS: Data on the impact of design on treatment outcomes are inconclusive. Rigorous randomised controlled trials, qualitative studies and novel methods are called for. Different stakeholders' responses to the ward as a symbolic environment merit further investigation.
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Papoulias et al. (2014) studied this question.
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