A Scoping Review of Pediatric Healthcare Built Environment Experiences and Preferences Among Children With Disabilities and Their Families

Abstract

Background: Some children with disabilities (CWD) frequently visit pediatric healthcare settings for appointments. Their age, disability, and regular visits mean that they have unique experiences in healthcare settings. While previous research has explored the clinical experiences of CWD, little is known about their experiences of pediatric healthcare built environments, even though these environments may play an important role in shaping their perceptions of care. Given the significant time that some CWD and chronic illnesses (e.g., cancer) spend in healthcare environments and the impact that these settings can have on their experiences, the knowledge gap concerning how they view, and experience healthcare built environments demands attention. Objective: To explore how CWD and their families experience pediatric healthcare built environments. Methods: A scoping review was conducted by searching five health science and interdisciplinary literature databases using terms related to children, disability, healthcare, and built environment. The search identified 5,397 records that were screened independently by three reviewers. Results: Nineteen studies met inclusion criteria and were considered in the final review. Findings indicate that CWD and their families value healthcare built environment features that support social engagement, patient privacy, and parental presence. Further, the age of a child was highlighted as an important factor that influences the built environment preferences of CWD. Conclusions: CWD and their families prefer certain healthcare built environment features to optimize their experiences in these settings. Healthcare designers can leverage these findings to advance more inclusive pediatric healthcare spaces to improve care and the quality of life for CWD and their families.