ArticleHERD2019
"It's Lonely": Patients' Experiences of the Physical Environment at a Newly Built Stroke Unit.
Article in HERD, 2019. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 22 papers, 4 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
22 citing papers in PubMed, 4 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 60 citations in OpenAlex.
- A Systematic Review of Research Gaps in the Built Environment of Inpatient Healthcare Settings.HERD · 2024Pooled it
- Pooled it
- Pooled it
- Built environments for inpatient stroke rehabilitation services and care: a systematic literature review.BMJ open · 2021Pooled it
- Geriatric evaluation and management inpatients spend little time participating in physically, cognitively or socially meaningful activity: a time-motion analysis.Age and ageing · 2025Observational
- Building support for children and families affected by stroke (BUILD CARE): Study protocol.PloS one · 2025Article
- Article
- Present but Absent-Nurses' Experiences of How a Hospital Design with Only Single Bedrooms and the Technological Shift Affect Nursing.Nursing reports (Pavia, Italy) · 2024Article
- Article
- Built Environments to Support Rehabilitation for People With Stroke From the Hospital to the Home (B-Sure): Protocol for a Mixed Method Participatory Co-Design Study.JMIR research protocols · 2023Article
- The role of the physical environment in stroke recovery: Evidence-based design principles from a mixed-methods multiple case study.PloS one · 2023Article
- What landscape elements are needed for hospital healing spaces? Evidence from an empirical study of 10 compact hospitals.Frontiers in public health · 2023Article
- Review
- Article
- Why hospital design matters: A narrative review of built environments research relevant to stroke care.International journal of stroke : official journal of the International Stroke Society · 2022Review
- Does the physical environment matter? - A qualitative study of healthcare professionals' experiences of newly built stroke units.International journal of qualitative studies on health and well-being · 2021Article
- Aesthetics sets patients 'free' to recover during hospitalization with a neurological disease. A qualitative study.International journal of qualitative studies on health and well-being · 2021Article
- A Conceptual Review of Loneliness in Adults: Qualitative Evidence Synthesis.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2021Review
- Article
- Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
4 authors at 3 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
objectiveThe aim of this study was to explore patients' experiences of the physical environment at a newly built stroke unit.
backgroundFor a person who survives a stroke, life can change dramatically. The physical environment is essential for patients' health and well-being. To reduce infections, a majority of new healthcare facilities mainly have a single-room design. However, in the context of stroke care, knowledge of how patients experience the physical environment, particularly their experience of a single-room design, is scarce.
methodThis study used a qualitative design. Patients (
resultsTwo main themes were identified: (i) incongruence exists between community and privacy and (ii) connectedness with the outside world provides distraction and a sense of normality. In single rooms, social support was absent and a sense of loneliness was expressed. Patients were positively distracted when they looked at nature or activities that went on outside their windows.
conclusionsThe physical environment is significant for patients with stroke. This study highlights potential areas for architectural improvements in stroke units, primarily around designing communal areas with meeting places and providing opportunities to participate in the world outside the unit. A future challenge is to design stroke units that support both community and privacy. Exploring patients' experiences could be a starting point when designing new healthcare environments and inform evidence-based design.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.