This section of the Hospital Environment Audit Tool (HEAT) contains modules that consider how the general areas of the hospital environment support the needs of older people and increase their participation in their care.
There are five modules in this section:
- External areas and parking
- Entrance, foyer and reception
- Stairs, lifts and paths - internal areas
- Outpatient and waiting areas
- Wayfinding, signage and use of colour
Some suggestions for improvement would take some budget and/or timeframe to implement, while some may be able to be changed quickly and with minimal budget. It is not intended for major refurbishments or new builds.
The modules in this section are designed to take from 15 minutes to 35 minutes to complete. You may use these audit modules individually or as part of a broader audit of other parts of the facility. The modules are not designed to be used for major refurbishments or new builds.
External areas and parking
This audit module is designed to look at the external areas of a facility, including parking areas, external pathways and garden areas.
Some suggestions for improvement would take some budget and/or timeframe to implement, while some may be able to be changed quickly and with minimal budget. It is not intended for major refurbishments or new builds.
You may use this audit module on its own or as part of a broader audit of other parts of the facility. We suggest completing it with the other facility audits to enhance your understanding of how to improve the environment for older people.
This audit module contains 17 questions and will take approximately 15-20 minutes to complete.
Start the external areas and parking
Entrance foyer and reception
This audit module is designed to look at the entrance, foyer and reception areas of a facility.
Some suggestions for improvement would take some budget and/or timeframe to implement, while some may be able to be changed quickly and with minimal budget. It is not intended for major refurbishments or new builds.
You may use this audit module on its own or as part of a broader audit of other parts of the facility. We suggest completing it with the other facility audits to enhance your understanding of how to improve the environment for older people.
This audit module contains 15 questions and will take approximately 15-20 minutes to complete.
Start the entrance, foyer and reception area
Outpatient and waiting areas
This audit module is designed to look at outpatient and other designated patient waiting areas.
Some suggestions for improvement would take some budget and/or timeframe to implement, while some may be able to be changed quickly and with minimal budget. It is not intended for major refurbishments or new builds.
You may use this audit module on its own or as part of a broader audit of other parts of the facility. We suggest completing it with the other facility audits to enhance your understanding of how to improve the environment for older people.
This audit module contains 13 questions and will take approximately 15-20 minutes to complete.
Start the outpatient and waiting areas
Stairs, lifts and paths - internal areas
This audit module is designed to assess internal stairs, lifts, paths and the ramps and handrails used to facilitate access to general or public areas of a facility.
Some suggestions for improvement would take some budget and/or timeframe to implement, while some may be able to be changed quickly and with minimal budget. It is not intended for major refurbishments or new builds.
You may use this audit module on its own or as part of a broader audit of other parts of the facility. We suggest completing it with the other facility audits to enhance your understanding of how to improve the environment for older people.
This audit module contains 23 questions and will take approximately 25-35 minutes to complete all sections. It contains 11 general questions on paths, handrails and ramps, plus an additional 8 questions on lifts and an additional 4 questions on stairs.
Start the stairs, lifts and paths - internal areas
Wayfinding, signage and use of colour
This audit module is designed to look at wayfinding in the general or public areas of a facility.
Wayfinding refers to all the ways in which people orientate themselves in a space and navigate their way from place to place. Older people need more wayfinding aids to assist orientation in a space and these need to be more obvious.
Some suggestions for improvement would take some budget and/or timeframe to implement, while others can be changed quickly and with minimal budget. It is not intended for major refurbishments or new builds.
You may use this audit module on its own or as part of a broader audit of other parts of the facility. We suggest completing it with the other facility audits to enhance your understanding of how to improve the environment for older people.
This audit module contains 21 questions and will take approximately 25-30 minutes to complete.
Start the wayfinding, signage and use of colour
Reviewed 17 July 2024