The volume documents the results of the 35th UIA/PHG International Seminar on Public Healthcare Facilities held in Dalian, China, 23-25 May 2015, as part of the more extensive conference entitled "HEALTH FOR ALL, Cultural, Operational & Technological Influence", organized by UIA - Public Health Group- and GUPHA - Global University Program in Healthcare Architecture.
The volume is divided into fouth sessions containing the contributions of members of the UIA/PHG at the conference.
The design problems addressed in the different sessions and in the individual papers presented concerned aspects of professional benefit and general interest that go beyond the specificities of the geographic and socio-economic contexts of the speakers.
The topic of the humanization of care spaces is confirmed as a central issue with respect to the objectives to be pursued in hospital intervention programmes.
As regards the increasingly marked and widespread attention to the "patient centrality" requirement, the existence of very different design solutions was noted, which were particularly stimulating due to the understanding of the impact generated by "lifestyles" on the arrangement of the care environment.
Particular attention was paid to problems deriving from the need for "integration", for which the hospital must ensure an adequate response given that users of different cultures tend to co-exist with similar health demands while their expectations over treatment methods often vary.
Contributions concerning alternative approaches tested to ensure adequate assistance for the growing spread of chronic diseases and co-morbidity in elderly people are particular stimulating. This problem, in addition to enhancing awareness of the set up of the entire system of regional public health services for an ever broader range of users, raises some questions on the characterization of spaces where environmental logistical support prevails over the true function of care.