A Meta Analysis on Domestic Research Trends of Healthcare Design in Spatial Design Field

(Background and Purpose) With increasing interest in healthy life, the aging modern society has paid attention to healthcare design in various fields, which was mainly researched in the spatial design field of a healthcare environment. The purpose of this study is to systematize research on healthcare spatial design to date by analyzing research trends on healthcare design centering on spaces to provide materials for current issues and to predict future research directions of healthcare spatial design. (Method) Meta analysis was conducted to analyze the trend of healthcare spatial design research by selecting 499 papers in total among the papers published in the Journal of National Research Foundation of Korea until November 2018, from keyword search, limited to journals, and 5 experts' judgement. In this study, (1) the healthcare space based on the significance of space in healthcare design was conceptualized to reveal the meaning of research on healthcare spatial design, (2) subject papers were extracted by the KCI system with keyword related to healthcare design, and (3) as the criteria for the analysis, the trend of healthcare spatial design research was analyzed by categorizing sub topics of spatial design such as time series, research methods, target space, key actors, and design elements. (Results) As a result of meta analysis, (1) the healthcare spatial design research has been continuously studied staring from 2002 with expanding healthcare spaces from a traditional healthcare design category focusing on hospital, the area of behavior of patients and medical professionals, to the elderly welfare center for the elderly, and even to everyday spaces for healthcare. (2) As research methods, empirical research methods such as case analysis, survey, experiment and evaluation were mainly carried out to suggest the direction of user-centered design results, and (3) the trend of research was found that suggests spatial design elements in complex rather than single to realize effective healthcare spaces, and Also, (4) the research trends was found that deal with users who demand to improve the quality of life based on mental and physical health not only in the space for direct medical care but also in other functional spaces. (Conclusions) This study, which meta analyzes the healthcare spatial design research, is a follow-up to the first study that analyzes the trend of overall healthcare design research, and is meaningful to find the direction of visual and perceptual results of the user's physical environment through healthcare design. By analyzing the trend in healthcare design research focusing on design other than spaces, it is expected that this study will be a useful material for enabling comprehensive design prediction for healthcare design in the future by comparing issues of healthcare design research in each design sector.