Congruence Mapping of the Activity Flows Allocated in Built Environments: A Pilot Application of Under-Development Software in an Emergency-Care Service

Abstract

Due to the large number of activities that must be carried out by emergency-care services (ESs), the tasks of facility managers and architects are challenging and complex. Several strategies, guides, and diagnoses have already been developed in order to improve ESs. Part of the solution to this problem depends on obtaining a normative and universal understanding of the problem, and another part depends on conducting a specific and relational analysis between the environment and the flow of activities that are allocated within it. This paper presents the results of a study that was conducted using a software program that is currently under development for mapping the congruence relationship between activities and environments. Here, we present a discussion of the first results that were obtained with the instrument, which was applied to a single case. For this purpose, the fundamentals of the instrument, as well as the environment and the flows of an ES at a university hospital, are described. The forms of analysis, benefits, and limitations of the instrument were investigated, with a view towards its use in supporting the management and the design of large and complex environments, such as emergency departments. In this program, the relationships that are hidden from the managers, the designers, and the researchers due to the aforementioned complexity are revealed through the use of matrices. This mapping can supplement the decision making of the managers and the designers. The application showed advantages in modeling with fewer inputs, mainly in pre-design evaluations.