More publicity for Horizon’s in-hospital navigation research

Kilometers of near identical corridors, patients wandering around and missing appointments, junior doctors getting lost on urgent crash calls and potentially endangering lives – hospital navigation presents a serious problem for staff, visitors and patients alike.

James Pinchin, research fellow in Horizon, talked to the Guardian about the results of a study revealing that video proved to be a more effective navigation aid than a map or a written route description.

“These results will allow us to improve the navigation strategies already used by hospital patients, visitors and staff. Approaches may include incorporating video into smart signs at key junctions in the hospital, and the use of specialised information kiosks or volunteers to help patients and staff navigate more easily.

We hope that working towards better in-hospital navigation systems will lessen the stress on patients, visitors and staff, leading to increased staff efficiency, improved medical response times and a reduction in missed appointments.”

See the Guardian piece at http://gu.com/p/46b76/stw