A Study on the Ward Design Guideline Abroad for Architectural Planning of Acute Psychiatric Ward

정신건강의학과 급성기 병동 공간계획을 위한 국외 가이드라인에 관한 연구

Purpose: Recently, the number of severely mentally ill patients has been increasing rapidly in Korea, but there are no design guidelines for spatial planning of Korea's acute psychiatric wards. The study aims to clarify the areas and required rooms in Korea's acute psychiatric wards which are important in establishing the design guidelines for Korea's acute psychiatric wards. Methods: This study proposed a structural framework based on the results of investigating and analyzing the acute psychiatric ward guidelines in the UK, Australia, and the U.S. and the areas and the required rooms of the wards stipulated in the basic data for establishing acute psychiatric ward design guidelines in Korea. The design guidelines for overseas acute psychiatric wards are 'Adult Acute Mental Health' in the UK, 'Adult Acute Mental Health Inpatient Unit' in the Australia, and 'Specific Requirements for Mental Health Hospitals' in the United States. Results: As a result of investigating and analyzing the design guidelines for overseas acute psychiatric wards, the areas of wards applicable to acute wards in domestic psychiatric wards were access, patient, treatment, support, and employee areas. In addition, the required rooms for each area were defined around major considerations such as visibility, convenience, comfort, security, safety, patient observation, barrier-free design, and privacy protection. Implications: The results of the study will be presented as a structural framework and basic data for establishing design guidelines for Korea's acute psychiatric wards, which is still absent.