Importance of Wayfinding in Hospitals
.webp "Flooring in a healthcare setting")
Flooring that aids in wayfinding can really aid patients, visitors and staff when navigating the often-complex layouts of hospitals. This doesn’t just mean arrows on the floor, way finding can also be introduced with colour coded flooring or even through different floor materials.
What is wayfinding?
Wayfinding can be defined as the process of navigating through physical environments, such as hospitals and other healthcare organisations, efficiently and effectively. In other words, it’s about finding your way from one point to another.
When flooring that is geared towards improving navigation is implemented, it will complement other signage to create a smooth flow of traffic throughout the building with reduced confusion and stress.
.webp "Milton Keynes cancer research facility")
.webp "Marmoleum in a healthcare setting")
Why is wayfinding important in hospitals?
Hospitals are often large buildings with high levels of urgency and fast foot traffic, whether it be members of staff rushing from office to office, or patients being transported from wards to operating theatres.
With proper wayfinding tactics in place, both patients and staff will benefit, as any confusion or loss of orientation could have a snowball effect and hinder patient health and recovery.
It’s important that healthcare professionals learn the layout of the hospital as quickly as possible so that they can quickly navigate to areas in which they’re needed and flooring that aids in wayfinding can make this process a lot easier.
On top of healthcare staff being able to get to them quicker, patients benefit from improved wayfinding by virtue of it allowing them to navigate the hospital safely, independently, and comfortably with reduced stress and difficulty.
Finding your way through colour
The use of colour coded flooring in hospitals can help to define different areas of the building and assist people with getting to where they need to go, as well as creating a relaxing atmosphere in an often-intimidating environment for patients.
Colour can play a big part in helping people to quickly get their bearings, learn the buildings layout, remember key areas and to recognise that they have arrived at their desired destination, if for whatever reason signage isn’t immediately noticeable.
As well as helping patients, visitors and staff navigate, it can have a positive effect on those with neurodiverse conditions, such as dementia. Visit our blog on dementia friendly flooring to learn more.
Finding your way through texture
Using different materials on the floor to create pathways can help many people, including those with impaired vision move around busy spaces in a safe and organised manner.
Typical routes along corridors or in large open circulation spaces can be suggested by materials on floors, such as harder flooring in corridors and softer flooring in communal and breakout areas.
Flooring to help with wayfinding in hospitals
At Forbo we believe in a holistic approach to flooring design, which is why we have products across our portfolio to cover all needs and use cases. Find some examples below of products to help with wayfinding in hospitals.
Marmoleum
Available in over 300 colours and over 12 constructions, our premium linoleum brand, Marmoleum offers a sustainable and durable flooring solution for healthcare organisations. Available in a variety of colours and tones to aid with navigation in corridors and circulation areas, Marmoleum is also bacteriostatic and helps with infection control. Marmoleum floors are easy to maintain – reducing disruption to foot traffic.
.webp "marmoleum in a healthcare setting")
.webp "Flotex flocked flooring")
Flotex Flocked Flooring
A unique textile floor covering that combines durability with innovative designs that can aid in wayfinding throughout communal areas. Flocked flooring features the quality and durability of a carpet with the easy cleanability of a resilient flooring to help create a safe and welcoming environment for visitors, patients and staff.
Eternal Heterogeneous Vinyl
Our Eternal design vinyl sheet collection, comes in three ranges; wood, material and colour, giving you more choice to differentiate different areas and aid in navigation. Eternal features a PUR Pearl surface layer which makes the floor covering extremely durable and able to withstand heavy footfall and wheeled traffic whilst also being easy to clean and maintaining its excellent appearance over time.
Sphera
Forbo’s premium homogeneous vinyl floor covering, Sphera, has a uniquely embossed surface that offers optimal durability. The different colour and pattern options can be used to aid in wayfinding and marking different areas of interest in many areas of a hospital including corridors and workspaces.
Through the use of flooring which aids in wayfinding in hospitals, patient well-being and quality-of-life for everyone can be improved, simply by helping people get where they need to go.
Are you interested in how it’s possible to heal through design with our hospital flooring? Download our whitepaper today and learn more.
.webp "Sphera in a healthcare setting")