Insights & Solutions

Lorusso, L., Park, N.-K., Bosch, S., Freytes, I. M., Shorr, R., Conroy, M., & Ahrentzen, S. (2020). Sensory environments for behavioral health in Dementia: Diffusion of an environmental innovation at the Veterans Health Administration. HERD: Health Environments Research & Design Journal, in press.

Not all MSE stimulus or equipment is created equal and beauty is in the eye of the beholder. 

Albala, L., Bober, T., Hale, G., Warfield, B., Collins, M. L., Merritt, Z., Steimetz, E., Nadler, S., Lev, Y., & Hanifin, J. (2019). Effect on nurse and patient experience: Overnight use of blue-depleted illumination. BMJ Open Quality, 8(3), e000692.

Working at night shouldn't mean being kept in the dark. While blue-wavelength light is bad for patient sleep, no light is bad for everyone.

Devlin, A. S., Anderson, A., Hession-Kunz, S., Kelly, M., Noble, L., & Zou, A. (2020). Magnitude matters: Art image size and waiting time impact perceived quality of care. HERD: Health Environments Research & Design Journal, 13(3), 140–153.

This study shows evidence that when it comes to art, size matters. Larger art that covers at least 60% of the visible wall space appears to make the exam room more pleasant, perhaps improving the overall perception of care.

Peditto, K., Shepley, M., Sachs, N., Mendle, J., & Burrow, A. (2020). Inadequacy and impact of facility design for adolescents and young adults with cancer. Journal of Environmental Psychology, 69, in press.

Designing in features that improve a sense of social support for adolescents and young adults (AYAs) with cancer has the potential to improve health related quality of life for these young people..

Freihoefer, K., Lindval, S., Bayramzadeh, S., & Hanson, L. (2019). Implications of a Decentralized Postpartum Unit Design and Clinical Operations. HERD: Health Environments Research & Design Journal, in press.

This study shows us the failure of a “if you build it they will come” philosophy. A new decentralized environment does not mean new decentralized behavior. 

Hamilton, D. K. (2019). Horseshoe, Cockpit, and Dragonfly: Nurse Movement in Headwall Patient Rooms. Critical Care Nursing Quarterly, 42(1), 47–52.  

Critical care nurses need consistency for some items, and flexibility for others. While patient rooms design varies, this study is able to shed some light on one of the most common configurations in use in North American critical care patient rooms; the headwall variation of life support systems.  

Van Heuvelen, J.S. (2019). Isolation or Interaction: Healthcare Provider Experience of Design Change. Sociology of Health & Illness, 41(4), 692-708.  

Where policy-based changes can be more easily ignored, the physical change of the environment forces every member of the team to confront new institutional belief systems while simultaneously learning all the new work routines. We need to understand that physical environments are a dynamic force that influence organizational culture.