Abstract
This paper aims to understand hemodialysis (HD) patients and discuss ways that current architectural and interior design of HD units influence patient experience and personal preferences even when not related to the clinical, functional, or operational aspects of treatment. Several factors have contributed to the prevailing demand for HD in Brazil such as food, aging, gender and genetics. In recent decades, underlying diseases such as hypertension, diabetic mellitus, smoking, factors of chronic renal diseases as well as education as a relevant element for the perception of the worsening and deterioration of health conditions have been considered the major culprits. The person-environment relation in HD treatment centers should have been investigated much sooner from the architectural and design perspective. This research used a five-step methodology: Identify the evidence from the research; Systematic review of the literature; Access the qualities of the environment; Collect data and monitor developments; synthesize and analysis data. We later realized that the kind of specific approach we were using here is not so often used in the architecture and design areas. By observing the results, we perceived that the specifics of patients undergoing treatment or professional teams were not considered within their different contexts. Hence, the humanization in health care, the way preconized by the National Program for Humanization of the Health Ministry, is by no means correlated to anything other than its generic character.