Insights & Solutions

The goal for this project was to establish four guiding principles: Design for adaptability to enable flexibility of use over time; Incorporate safety initiatives identified in available research; Create standardization of processes, supplies and design to develop a safer environment and increase the value of the facility; Develop archetypes or prototypes for all components including design elements, patient rooms and overall units.

For the 2014 cycle of the Facility Guidelines Institute's health care design guidelines, a brand new volume is being developed for residential and senior living facilities; entitled the Guidelines for Residential Care Facilities: Design & Construction of Health, Care, and Support Facilities. This guideline includes nursing homes, hospice, assisted living, independent living, adult day care, and wellness/diagnostic facilities. The vetted approach to the guidelines is to provide design information, as well as parameters for Authorities Having Jurisdiction to evaluate and incorporate culture change and resident-centered approaches to the residential-based care. 

Developed through extensive review of research, surveys, site tests, and review and validation by expert advisory council members, this standard set of evidence-based design checklists and post-occupancy evaluation (POE) tools can be used by interior designers to apply research to healthcare design projects and to conduct post-occupancy evaluations of three types of hospital patient rooms: adult medical-surgical, adult intensive care, and maternity care.

The following are compiled from research literature, case studies, interviews, and other materials to provide an overview on the topic of infection control.  

Learn about: the interdisciplinary infection control working group created to guide design decisions, the methods used to protect individuals from infection during the construction process, and the design strategies implemented in the new facility to reduce the spread of infections.

Learn about: strategies that disrupt pathogen transmission, the numerous reasons that sink location is important and why post-occupancy evaluations by the design/architecture community are necessary.

Your Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (HCAHPS) scores reflect your patients’ views of the cleanliness of your facility. Yet their visual perceptions might not match the reality of your environment.

In today’s demanding healthcare marketplace, your design choices need to do double duty. They need to reflect your mission to prevent the transmission of germs in your facility while also incorporating a patient-centered care approach to help people feel at home in your units.

But this raises a serious question: Can safety and comfort co-exist? The answer is a resounding “yes.” Many modern facilities are finding creative ways to integrate both missions seamlessly so patients and staff reap the full benefits.

Hospital-acquired infections (HAI) and other easily transmittable diseases are a serious concern in most facilities today. Implementing some of the latest best practices in your physical environment can help to minimize their impact—and help you get the best outcomes from your efforts.

When exploring design options that can help to prevent HAI and keep other infectious diseases from spreading, here are three key factors to consider: