Quality of space and right to health. An interdisicplinary research in hospital facilities

Abstract

This paper presents the results and the approach of an interdisciplinary research that deals with the study of the relationship between the protection of the right to health and the design and use of space of hospitals. The research aims to provide criteria for the evaluation and design of space and organization in relation to regional and national policies on health. The approach takes as a reference the theory of social rights as rights based on the "relationship", whose effectiveness contributes to the quality of the spaces in which these relations take place. Key to the reading of the approach is the patient’s flow of experience in the public spaces of the hospital. The tools of configurational analysis in architecture were intertwined with sociological methods and investigation methodologies on the constitutional protection of rights. The research results are a set of knowledge articulated in a model, process data sheets and indicators for the evaluation of the flows in hospital.