Understanding the Leisure Experience of Long-Term Hospitalised Patients in China's Context

Abstract

The contribution of leisure activities to health has long been recognized. The benefits of leisure activities have been widely discussed, such as: achieving physical relaxation, accelerating physical recovery, delivering mental pleasure to help the recovery of disease, etc. However, management-based research on the impacts of leisure activities of long-term hospitalized patients is limited, and even fewer studies have focused on how Chinese public hospitals can organise and manage leisure activities for such patients. Previous studies mainly adopted the qualitative approach and focused on the interpretation of theories, which indicates the lack of empirical quantitative studies on leisure participation and social participation of long-term hospitalized patients from the perspective of management. To fill this gap, this research attempts to explore the patients' leisure experience and their leisure expectations during hospitalization, investigating the quantitative relationship between leisure experience and the wellbeing of long-term hospitalized patients in China, and further discuss how Chinese public hospitals can effectively deliver leisure services to long-term hospitalized patients. Data for this research will be obtained by delivering a primary survey in the public hospitals in Henan Province, China. The study will provide insight on how public hospitals and relevant stakeholders such as healthcare centers, relevant public/private organizations, government can participate to improve the leisure experience of the long-term hospitalized patient, informing the healthcare provider with the importance of providing leisure activities to patients and give implication in hospital management and public management.