Insights & Solutions

The goal for this project was to design the Southwest Centre for Forensic Mental Health Care was to challenge the aesthetic typically associated with that of a forensic detention facility, while focusing on supporting the client’s healing process. 

The goal of this project was to design a behavioral health setting within the emergency department (ED) that is non-institutional and calming for patients. To provide solutions that will meet the needs of a diverse behavioral health patient mix.

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.  

Toward a Framework for Designing Person-Centered Mental Health Interiors for Veterans, Journal of Interior Design, DOI: 10.1111/joid.12095

Design interventions to improve well-being for patients with behavioral and mental health (BMH) conditions will often have impacts on other populations, as well (e.g., staff, visitors, non-BMH patients who use the same facility). This tool will help you consider those broader impacts and incorporate them into an evidence-based process for a universal design approach.  

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.

Inside you will learn about: why relationships are at the heart of successful psychiatric treatment strategies; how effective designs can facilitate positive interactions between clinicians and patients; and the benefits of using a community treatment model that allows patients to access services in carefully designed “neighborhood treatment malls.”

Inside you will learn about: the challenges in identifying best practices in the built environment for behavioral healthcare; where architects and designers can start when working on projects for behavioral health facilities; and the differences between behavioral health and medical settings.

The Safety Risk Assessment (SRA) Toolkit is:

a proactive process that can mitigate risk a discussion prompt for a multidisciplinary team an evidence-based design (EBD) approach to identify solutions.

The SRA targets six areas of safety (infections, falls, medication errors, security, injuries of behavioral health, and patient handling) as required in the FGI Guidelines.

WHY USE THIS SRA?

Trzpuc, S. J., Wendt, K. A., Heitzman, S. C., Skemp, S., Thomas, D., & Dahl, R. (2016). Does space matter? An exploratory study for a child–adolescent mental health inpatient unit. HERD: Health Environments Research & Design Journal, 10(1), 23-44.