Insights & Solutions

The goal for this project was to create a world-class facility using evidence-based design (EBD), LEED, and patient- and family–centered strategies. The re-design of the Ft. Bliss Army Medical Center not only took into account the Military Health System (MHS) World-Class Checklist, but also information gathered from 14 EBD working groups to further influence the design. 

The goal for this project was to change the art program from an art-for-art’s sake to an evidence-based approach that uses research to determine appropriate art for patients and staff and collects evidence on the effectiveness of the art-intervention implemented.

The goal for this project was to promote the healing process for the patients of Simlow Cancer Hospital by using the evidence-based premise that appropriate art has the power to lower stress, anxiety and pain, as well as increase patient satisfaction through the improved perception of the quality of care delivered.

The goal for this project involved the renovation of the existing Adler Building with a new entry addition to create an identifiable and convenient birthing center with all services in one building. Team members used the EBD Checklist Tool to identify more than 20 design goals. 

The goal for this project was to have this facility's deisgn include a patient- and family-centered environment, improve the quality and safety of healthcare, enhance care of the whole person by adding contact with nature and positive distractions, and create a positive work environment. The design would also feature maximum standardization and accommodate future flexibility and growth.

Patient-centered care is a hot topic today. But do you know how to integrate this concept into your operations and settings? If not, you could be missing out on some key elements that can strengthen your organization, while enhancing your efforts to meet the provisions of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.

For many years, legal precedents have spoken to the need for quality environments for behavioral health patients. Behavioral health facilities span a wide range of care environments including psychiatric hospitals, psychiatric neuropsychiatric nursing units of general hospitals, facilities for the psychiatric medically infirm, neuropsychiatric units, alcohol and drug addiction retreatment facilities, mental health clinics, day hospitals, and day treatment centers. The wide variety of setting and diagnosis is one of the major impediments to creating evidence based design guidelines for behavioral health facilities.

Behavioral health settings guided by strict safety design measures often result in spaces that are stark, plain, and isolated - potentially exacerbating environmental stressors and escalating already difficult patient situations. Acute care emergency settings have a particular set of challenges as EDs are predicting increased visits from behavioral health patients. Faced with the challenge of designing a behavioral health care setting in the Emergency Department at UnityPoint Health in Rock Island, IL, the project team hypothesized that the creation of a Crisis Stabilization Unit (CSU) with a “Living Room Concept” would provide a higher quality of care to patients while assisting in the staff’s ability to quickly consult and treat a diverse set of patients entering the ED. 

From heightened anxiety and stress, to medical errors, to staff burnout, to HIPAA violations, that hospital noise is pandemic is well known. Ongoing efforts to reduce noise in hospitals, including the “quiet at night” campaigns, have limited success due to a misunderstanding regarding the characteristics of a restful environment. The auditory environment is the least controllable and the most pervasive, involving communications, technology, family dialogue, sounds of recovery and sounds of disease. This webinar provides both insights and frameworks for creating a healing, restful environment.