Electronic Patient-Reported Outcome Monitoring With Alert-Based Interventions in Metastatic Breast Cancer: A Randomized Clinical Trial.

Hospitals are complex public health institutions that must meet numerous standards and requirements to provide high-quality treatment, surgery, and patient care. In addition to high-quality medical services, good interior design of hospital facilities is also a factor that positively affects the well-being of patients, their family members, and medical staff. Improving the visual appearance of healthcare settings and rooms through new materials, surface finishes, interior elements, and artwork enhances well-being and mental health outcomes, provides distraction, and evokes positive emotions. Together, these factors contribute to a more positive hospital experience. Today, a pressing issue is the selection of building and interior materials based on their environmental impact. The use of biobased materials in the construction industry provides carbon sequestration and long-term storage and makes a significant contribution to the modern global bioeconomy. Wood, as an organic and renewable material, has significant advantages over plastic, glass, concrete, and steel, which require substantial energy for production. These advantages include wood’s favourable environmental profile and its absence of environmental disturbances, pollution, or hazards to human health. It has also been found that using wood in buildings reduces embodied energy by 43% and carbon emissions by 68% compared to using concrete. Despite these benefits and widespread use of wood in furniture and panel manufacturing, its use in healthcare facility interiors remains limited due to concerns related to hygiene, durability, and safety. Hospitals, like any indoor environment, host complex microbiomes influenced by many factors, including construction materials and interior design. Wood is a hygroscopic, porous material, and its use in high-humidity environments can lead to the accumulation and spread of unwanted microflora. Pathogenic bacteria and fungi present in hospital microbiomes can interact with patients and healthcare staff and may contribute to healthcare-associated infections in susceptible patients. Although infection transmission often occurs from person to person, contaminated surfaces can also serve as a transmission pathway. Consequently, the hygienic characteristics of the interior materials used in hospitals are critically important and of heightened public interest in light of the recent COVID-19 pandemic. The introduction of new materials or changes to existing materials in a hospital interior can negatively affect the environment and its microbiome, potentially causing adverse consequences for patients. That is why the potential introduction of wood as a material for hospital facilities prompts reflection on effective surface cleaning and maintenance, durability, and fire safety.