Patients' Health & Well-Being in Inpatient Mental Health-Care Facilities: A Systematic Review

Clara Weber; Virna Monero Flores; Theresa Poppy Wheele; Elke Miedema; Emma Victoria White

doi:10.3389/fpsyt.2021.758039

Patients' Health & Well-Being in Inpatient Mental Health-Care Facilities: A Systematic Review

Front Psychiatry. 2022 Jan 3:12:758039. doi: 10.3389/fpsyt.2021.758039. eCollection 2021.

Authors

Clara Weber^{1

2}, Virna Monero Flores¹, Theresa Poppy Wheele¹, Elke Miedema³, Emma Victoria White²

Affiliations

¹ Institute of Facility Management, Life Sciences and Facility Management, Zurich University of Applied Sciences, Zurich, Switzerland.
² Environmental Psychology Department, School of Psychology, University of Surrey, Guildford, United Kingdom.
³ Architectural Theory and Methods, Department of Architecture and Civil Engineering, Chalmers University of Technology, Gothenburg, Sweden.

Abstract

Background: Previous research indicates that the physical environment of healthcare facilities plays an important role in the health, well-being, and recovery outcomes of patients. However, prior works on mental healthcare facilities have incorporated physical environment effects from general healthcare settings and patient groups, which cannot be readily transferred to mental healthcare settings or its patients. There appears to be a specific need for evidence synthesis of physical environmental effects in mental healthcare settings by psychopathology. Purpose: This review evaluates the state (in terms of extent, nature and quality) of the current empirical evidence of physical environmental on mental health, well-being, and recovery outcomes in mental healthcare inpatients by psychopathology. Method: A systematic review (PRISMA guidelines) was performed of studies published in English, German, Dutch, Swedish, and Spanish, of all available years until September 2020, searched in Cochrane, Ovid Index, PsycINFO, PubMed, and Web of Science and identified through extensive hand-picking. Inclusion criteria were: Adult patients being treated for mental ill-health (common mental health and mood disorders, Cochrane frame); inpatient mental health care facilities; specifications of the physical and socio-physical environment (e.g., design features, ambient conditions, privacy); all types of empirical study designs. Quality assessment and data synthesis were undertaken. Results: The search retrieved 1,068 titles of which 26 met the inclusion criteria. Findings suggest that there is only indicative evidence of the impact of the physical healthcare environment on patients' mental health, well-being, and recovery outcomes. There is significant lack of pathology-specific evidence. Methodological shortcomings and empirical scarcity account for the poor evidence. Conclusion: This review highlights the need for more research using advanced study designs.

Keywords: healing environments; mental health; psychiatric hospital; recovery outcomes; systematic review; well-being.

Publication types

Systematic Review