Description
The Healthcare Built Environment (HBE) plays an important role in promoting well-being, enhancing the user experience and promoting the quality of provided services. The HBE must fulfill its intended purpose during the operation of the building to generate value. Additionally, many HBE requirements depend on clinical and support services requirements. Therefore, the dynamic interdependence between physical space and service demands must be considered to understand value generation. However, there is a gap in the literature, as these relationships have been poorly explored in previous studies. Hence, the objective of this research study was to develop a method to understand the generation of value in HBE, using Design Science Research as a methodological approach and the means-end chain model as a theoretical basis. The proposed method, named the i³ method, was developed and refined through three empirical studies in different hospital units and complexes. Each study contributed to the evolution of the method, from its preliminary version to full implementation in the third study. The refinement included the integration of concepts from different areas, such as Evidence-Based Design, Service Blueprinting and Healthscape, allowing the modeling process to be adapted to the specificities of the HBE. As a result, it was possible to propose an improved Hierarchical Value Map (HVM), which incorporates both aspects of the built environment and healthcare services, highlighting the interrelationships between attributes, consequences and values. The research presents significant theoretical contributions, such as the refinement and integration of literature on value modeling, the visual differentiation between pertinent emerging constructs and the proposition of a conceptual framework that categorizes the attributes of the built environment according to the context. Finally, the research provides support for decision makers, aiming to help them understand and use the HVM as a tool to support HBE management and planning. The results highlight the importance of analyzing interactions between HBE and services, revealing opportunities to improve value generation and pointing out potential future studies that expand the use of the i³ method and its associated tools.| Period | 18 Dec 2024 |
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| Examinee | Giulie Baldissera |
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| Degree of Recognition | International |