Research

This thesis develops three types of agent behavior models to address the complex design issues in modern hospitals, focusing on the needs and experiences of patients. These models simulate the physical and social interactions of patients and caregivers during hospital visits, offering a new approach to evaluating patient-centered hospital performance. Patient-caregiver independent schedule model [1] is a basic model simulating the use of hospital facilities based on outpatient procedures and interactions with the hospital environment and medical staff. Tag-based relationship cognition model [2] and behavioral semantic-based relationship cognition model [3] are advanced models that reflect social factors among hospital visitors, calculating behaviors for maintaining patient-caregiver relationships and social distancing by observing and responding to other agents' conditions. Hospital experts applied these models to hospital projects to evaluate their performance. The findings indicated that Model [2] was rated higher in terms of reliability, applicability, and usefulness, making it a better tool for evaluating hospital performance, including patient and caregiver satisfaction. This thesis aims to assist hospital experts in evaluating patient-centered designs and analyzing complex social interactions among hospital visitors and to contribute to the advancement of patient-centered and evidence-based design practices in healthcare settings.

Behavior Mechanism: Interactions between Hospital Visitors-Staff