Factors Affecting The Physical Characteristics of Airborne Infection Isolation Wards in General Hospitals or Specialized Hospitals

Abstract

In 2019, there was an outbreak of coronavirus, which affected public health. The provision of isolation rooms for patient was part of preventive measures so hospitals in Thailand began setting up isolation rooms inside the ward to deal with emerging and recurring diseases. Airborne Infection Isolation Ward have strict procedures and guidelines for treatment that differ from general wards. Therefore, it is very important to design an Airborne Infection Isolation ward that is suitable for use and service processes. This research aims to study the factors affecting the physical characteristics of the current airborne isolation ward. Including problems and space constraints as data to develop guidelines for designing airborne isolation wards. By theoretical studies in conjunction with building architectural studies, case studies and expert interviews with architects or engineers were analyzed before drawing conclusions.

The theoretical study found that design is based on the design principles of patient ward and recommendation from doctors or experts to design an airborne infection isolation ward at Chulalongkorn Hospital and Bumrasnaradura Institute. The area is divided into three sections, service areas for patients have different designs of traffic routes and order of access to area, main areas of operation have different sizes and placement depending on staff space requirements and hospital policies. And service and operational support areas have similar use areas where some case have increased functional space. According to interviews with designers and building users, each case study found different problems depending on how the area was used, such as building system, space and traffic routes for staff and patients.

Factors affecting the physical characteristics of the isolation ward were: 1. The building system area that is an important part in physical design of wards 2. Traffic routes and space sharing are the factors that determine the layout of buildings 3. The physical condition of the area, which is a design limitation, should be taken into account when designing or renovating an airborne isolation ward.