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Preferences for Indoor Environmental and Social Comfort of Outpatient Staff during the COVID-19 Pandemic, an Explanatory Study

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  • AnneMarie Eijkelenboom

    (Faculty of Architecture and the Built Environment, Delft University of Technology, 2628BL Delft, The Netherlands)

  • Marco A. Ortiz

    (Faculty of Architecture and the Built Environment, Delft University of Technology, 2628BL Delft, The Netherlands)

  • Philomena M. Bluyssen

    (Faculty of Architecture and the Built Environment, Delft University of Technology, 2628BL Delft, The Netherlands)

Abstract

While the pressure on hospital workers keeps growing, they are generally more dissatisfied with their comfort than other occupants in hospitals or offices. To better understand the comfort of outpatient workers in hospitals, clusters for preferences and perceptions of the indoor environmental quality (IEQ) and social comfort were identified in a previous study before the outbreak of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. This qualitative study explains the outpatient workers’ main preferences for comfort during the COVID-19 pandemic. Semi-structured interviews and photo-elicitation were used. Contextual changes due to the COVID-19 pandemic were included. The questions in the interviews were based on the characteristics of the profiles, corresponding with the clusters. The data were analyzed with content analysis according to the steps defined by Gioia. Seventeen outpatient workers who had been part of the previous study participated. For some outpatient workers differentiation of preferences was illogical due to interrelations and equal importance of the comfort aspects. The main changes in perceptions of comfort due to the pandemic were worries about the indoor air quality and impoverished interaction. Because the occupants’ preferences for comfort can change over time, it was suggested that further development of occupant profiles needs to accommodate changes.

Suggested Citation

  • AnneMarie Eijkelenboom & Marco A. Ortiz & Philomena M. Bluyssen, 2021. "Preferences for Indoor Environmental and Social Comfort of Outpatient Staff during the COVID-19 Pandemic, an Explanatory Study," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(14), pages 1-22, July.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:18:y:2021:i:14:p:7353-:d:591405
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    1. Harzing, Anne-Wil & Baldueza, Joyce & Barner-Rasmussen, Wilhelm & Barzantny, Cordula & Canabal, Anne & Davila, Anabella & Espejo, Alvaro & Ferreira, Rita & Giroud, Axele & Koester, Kathrin & Liang, Yu, 2009. "Rating versus ranking: What is the best way to reduce response and language bias in cross-national research?," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 18(4), pages 417-432, August.
    2. Joost van Hoof & Helen Bennetts & Alana Hansen & Jan K. Kazak & Veronica Soebarto, 2019. "The Living Environment and Thermal Behaviours of Older South Australians: A Multi-Focus Group Study," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 16(6), pages 1-19, March.
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    Cited by:

    1. Zhen Wu & Huiyi Tian & Dongjian Xu & Jiaying Chen & Yaqi Hu & Xiaohe Wang & Siyu Zhou, 2022. "Influencing Factors and Symbiotic Mechanism of the Integration of Medical Care and Disease Prevention during the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Cross-Sectional Survey of Public Hospital Employees," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(1), pages 1-20, December.

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