‘This Doesn’t Feel Like a Hospital’: Children’s Experience of the Outdoor Care Retreat Versus Conventional Hospital Design

This study explores how children experience two different locations at Oslo University Hospital in terms of their architectural design and emotional potential. The first location includes a conventional modern hospital wing, whereas the other is a uniquely designed cabin in natural surroundings outside the hospital building, the Outdoor care retreat. The research is a psychological study of how various locations activate cognitive schemas and lead to elicitation of different emotional responses and modes of behavior for children. Participants included 17 children aged 7 to 16, whereby 11 children had no previous experience with hospitalization for a serious medical condition and 6 children were undergoing treatment or follow-ups related to a medical condition at the time of data collection. The data material consisted of walking interviews accompanied by a semi-structured interview guide. The qualitative material was analyzed by applying reflexive thematic analysis and categorized into themes. Study findings illustrate that children experience the environments differently in terms of physical and emotional restrictions. Overall, the children prefer architectural spaces with direct contact to nature or design that mimics natural environments, in addition to being exciting, friendly, and intimate. In these environments, children feel less restricted, more relaxed and more free to express themselves and a range of emotions. This study proposes that spending time in such environments will increase resilience and hospitalization satisfaction for children admitted to hospitals for longer periods of time. In turn, this could have important implications for practice if included in the design of future health care facilities.