Insights & Solutions

Rich, R. K., Jimenez, F. E., Puumala, S. E., DePaola, S., Harper, K., Roy, L., Brittin, J. (2020). From Fable to Reality at Parkland Hospital: The Impact of Evidence-Based Design Strategies on Patient Safety, Healing, and Satisfaction in an Adult Inpatient Environment. Health Environments Research & Design Journal, pages in press.  

This webinar will explore the top five factors identified in an experimental study, funded over two phases by the National Patient Safety Foundation and the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. 

By combining observation, interviews, simulation, and rapid prototyping, this team developed design solutions that help healthcare workers stay safe while engaged in challenging tasks. This webinar brings the experience of the healthcare practitioners who cared for Ebola patients during the 2014 outbreak and introduces a human-centered discovery approach developed by design researchers at SimTigrate Design Lab to define the design requirements of spaces where the risk of self- and cross-contamination is the highest.

This summary compiles the executive summaries of six Safety Risk Assessment Issue Briefs to provide a high-level overview of the latent conditions of the built environment and their related design categories found in the CHD SRA toolkit.

This webinar introduces the new, easier to use, online interface for The Center’s Safety Risk Assessment (SRA) toolkit, a proactive and systematic approach to designing and renovating healthcare facilities for safety. Originally developed through research and consensus to support the requirements of the FGI Guidelines, The Center's research team will walk you through the why, what, and how of each part of the online SRA toolkit illustrating features with vignettes gathered from the testing process.  

Inside you will learn about: why behavioral health facilities have very different design requirements than general hospitals; how different areas of a behavioral health unit have different safety needs that influence design choices; and which types of safety measures and products should be incorporated into behavioral health units.

Learn about: the frequency and cost of falls among older adults, reasons older people fall and what can be done to prevent falls, and other safety concerns among older adults.

Patient falls are the most common adverse event reported in acute care settings, affecting from between 2% to 10% of annual hospital admissions. Patient falls cause increased morbidity, mortality, length of stay, and have significant cost impacts. One recent study examined the relationship of design factors in patient rooms to falls in 30 units in 15 hospitals. Results indicate key factors associated with higher numbers of falls, including multi-person rooms, shared toilet rooms, number and location of grab bars, and others. Explore the intrinsic and extrinsic factors on fall risk and the role design plays in mitigating these factors through real design solutions. 

The era of accountable care has focused more attention on doing things right. Hospitals are no longer reimbursed for what are categorized as "never events," serious adverse events that are largely preventable. The Center for Health Design, with support from the Facility Guidelines Institute and a grant from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ), has been working toward a consensus-based tool to proactively assess safety and risk in the built environment during the design process. New language will be incorporated into the 2014 Guidelines for the Design and Construction of Healthcare Facilities.