A Study of Efficient Floor Planning and Facility Improvement for Physical Therapy Room of Domestic Long-term Hospitals

국내 요양병원의 물리치료실의 효율적 평면계획 및 시설개선에 관한 연구

The present study investigated the actual conditions of physical therapy rooms at long-term hospitals in Korea and conducted a comparative analysis to develop an efficient floor plan and facility improvement measures. 1. At hospitals surveyed, physical therapy services were used at a high frequency but they did not have enough space for rehab treatment and long paths of patient flow were found to make patient management inconvenient. Therefore, physical therapy units should be conveniently located both in terms of distance and direction so as to be accessible from patient rooms or wards. The space should be organized in a concentrated layout for efficiency of physical therapy, and floor planning for therapy units should ensure the best possible viewing angle to therapists. 2. With regard to the disease characteristics of patients, many physical therapy rooms were in difficult circumstances because of poor facilities, so they need to secure skilled personnel, supplement apparatuses and equipment and have rooms for functional recovery, hydrotherapy and operation treatment. In addition, each of the curtained or partitioned areas for treatment should be set up with consideration for the amount of space taken up by medical equipment. The area under each bed should be designed for patient convenience so that it can be used as storage space for patient's belongings and shoes. 3. Patients complained about the lack of physical therapy space, resting places or exercise areas and demanded the expansion of rehab programs and facilities. Physical therapy facilities need to be improved for patient privacy and effective natural ventilation. 4. At most of the long-term hospitals surveyed, physical therapy units were found to have small areas and treatment equipment and devices were insufficient compared to the number of patients. Therefore, it is required to secure more space (at least 138.24 sq. meters per 100 beds) and improve facilities for better physical therapy services.