Outpatient oncology settings: the distinctive contribution of supportive design to patient experience and wellbeing

The concept of patient-centred care is increasingly shaping healthcare practices, particularly within oncology settings. Its implications extend to a hospital's constructed environment and how it is designed, yet few studies have explored patient experience of such sensitive settings, and even fewer have examined outpatient oncology facilities. This study researched how the hospital built environment affects cancer patient wellbeing using in-depth interviews with 24 patients across Australia and Egypt. Analysis of patient-narrated experiences shed light on the potential latent impact of the built environment on patient health-related outcomes, such as pre-treatment anxiety and treatment-induced sensitivities and stresses. Three overarching themes were identified, including the built environment capacity to contribute to incidences of positivity; balancing the unavoidable (necessary) presence in the hospital; and encouraging reasons to return – potentially enhancing treatment compliance. The study further demonstrates how such support may contribute to experiencing a desired climate of patient-centred care, affording additional grounds for patients to cope with the potential burdens of treatment and its side effects.