Course Description
In every health-care facility, several wars are being waged. First and foremost is the battle against disease, executed by science, medicine, and human efforts. But another battle is simultaneously being waged, and that is a battle between sterility and design. It’s true that a glistening white environment of sterile hard surfaces may look laboratory clean. But such an aesthetic ignores the very real human need for comfort and beauty in the healing process. The antiseptic aesthetic might radiate confidence in the cleanliness of the facility, but such starkness devoid of warmth can cause anxiety in patients, their families, and even the staff. The goal for the designer of a health-care facility should be specification of surface products that fulfill four criteria: cleanability, durability, microbial resistance, and healing aesthetic.
Learning Objectives:
- Examine the challenging environments inside a health-care facility with attention to the need for durability and cleanability as well as advanced antimicrobial qualities.
- Discuss the move away from visually sterile health-care environments toward attractive and comforting design.
- List various stations in a health-care facility and the ideal coordinated surface product specifications for durability, cleanability, harmony, beauty, and microbial resistance.
- Explain testing, standards, and certifications that ensure hard-surfacing products are safe and appropriate for demaind health-care settings.
- Review several case studies that demonstrate various surfaces within health-care facilities that marry form with function.
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