E08 – Designing Recovery: A Neuropsychological Based Design Framework to Mitigate Healthcare Worker Burnout
Healthcare worker (HCW) burnout diminishes job satisfaction, increases compassion fatigue, and adversely affects patient care. While extensive research explores factors contributing to burnout, a critical gap remains in understanding how to support recovery through short-term respite during the workday. Closing this gap goes beyond general acknowledgments that biophilic elements or natural lighting in respite spaces are beneficial, requiring a nuanced understanding of HCWs’ psychological needs. The COVID-19 pandemic intensified these needs, prompting facilities to create staff spaces without a clear evidence-based framework for respite. Few studies seek direct input from HCWs about how they experience respite and how their insight, rooted in neuropsychological concepts of recovery, can influence design.
Our study addresses these gaps using a mixed-methods survey distributed nationally across clinical roles, exploring: (1) how healthcare workers conceptualize respite and the workplace culture surrounding it, (2) how perceptions vary across demographics, i.e., role, age, region and (3) responses to visual stimuli as a proxy for preferences regarding mental and physical restoration through evidence-based neuropsychological design concepts.
This study seeks to understand a form of respite that sustains the workforce and enhances patient care. These findings will inform a preliminary design framework for future staff respite spaces in healthcare.
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