Improving wayfinding in hospitals for people with diverse needs and abilities: An exploratory approach based on multi-criteria decision making.

Hospital wayfinding systems that are based solely on signage do not provide adequate solutions for wayfinding needs, especially for users with impairments. Moreover, the interaction between user characteristics and the inner space of the building also determines wayfinding efficiency. The aims of this study, therefore, were to identify architectural features that affect spatial orientation and wayfinding behaviors; demonstrate the implementation of a multi-criteria decision-making (MCDM) approach for improving wayfinding in a diverse range of users; and produce a set of quantitative values (i.

Erratum to "Digital wayfinding systems in hospitals: A qualitative evaluation based on managerial perceptions and considerations before and after implementation" [Appl. Ergon. 90 (2020) 103260].

Despite the benefits that digital wayfinding systems offer hospital visitors and patients as well as the hospitals themselves, their actual presence in hospitals is low. This study, carried out in twenty hospitals, presents an evaluation of these systems. Interviews with hospital managers (with and without systems) indicate considerations and evidence-based information that are new to the literature such as reducing task complexity and overall user stress and anxiety; enhancing user control and empowerment; decreasing the amount of time medical staff must devote to providing directions to patients; and reducing rate of delayed and missed appointments.

Ease of disassembly of products to support circular economy strategies.

Circular economy strategies encourage, among others, concrete actions to extend the product lifetime. Product's repair and reuse, and component harvesting for reuse, all require the facilitated access to product components. Consequently, a reduction of the disassembly time and the related costs will increase the economic feasibility of product lifetime extension and therefore increase the viability of a circular economy in industrialised regions.

Evaluating the inclusivity of hospital wayfinding systems for people with diverse needs and abilities.

Objectives: Wayfinding in hospitals is a complex problem since patients, who are likely to be under stress, may have to navigate their way to multiple locations in the course of a single visit. While good wayfinding design can reduce stress, poor wayfinding can not only increase individuals' anxiety but also generate additional costs for the hospital due to: lost time among staff members who need to direct patients rather than concentrate on their designated task; missed appointments or delayed meetings; and additional security staff to ensure that patients do not enter restricted areas. We investigated to what extent a questionnaire, developed by collecting data about the subjective experiences of wayfinders with diverse needs and abilities, could uncover wayfinding problems in hospitals.

An Efficient Taguchi Approach for the Performance Optimization of Health, Safety, Environment and Ergonomics in Generation Companies.

Background: A unique framework for performance optimization of generation companies (GENCOs) based on health, safety, environment, and ergonomics (HSEE) indicators is presented.

Methods: To rank this sector of industry, the combination of data envelopment analysis (DEA), principal component analysis (PCA), and Taguchi are used for all branches of GENCOs. These methods are applied in an integrated manner to measure the performance of GENCO.