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Insights & Solutions

    Slidecast
    November 2022 Slidecast

    Kalantari, S., Tripathi, V., Kan, J., Rounds, J. D., Mostafavi, A., Snell, R., & Cruz-Garza, J. G. (2022). Evaluating the impacts of color, graphics, and architectural features on wayfinding in healthcare settings using EEG data and virtual response testing

    Ineffective wayfinding can increase anxiety, as well as the operational costs of staff time spent helping patients and visitors find their way. This study tested the use of VR immersion with physiological EEG sensors as a way to evaluate wayfinding design. Each participant was randomly assigned to one of three conditions that included variations of a hospital interior. Participants followed a scripted scenario, and the researchers looked at EEG measures, self-reported metrics of mental fatigue, stress, and confusion, and behavioral metrics. While the findings for self-reported and behavioral data were mostly inconclusive, participants in the design with basic signage, enhanced color, and architectural features looked at signs longer and more often. They were also more likely to choose the right direction. The results offer tentative support for adding both manifest cues (what the signs say), as well as environmental affordances (what the structure says).

    Slidecast
    October 2022 Slidecast

    Masclee, G. M. C., Masclee, A. A. M., Kruimel, J. W., Conchillo, J. M., van Vliet, J., Keszthelyi, D. (2022). Using a patient hotel: Perceptions of the quality of care by patients undergoing analysis for gastrointestinal motility disorders in the Netherlands

    Spending the night in the hospital before a procedure, or testing can be stressful. These hospital stays are also costly for patients and for the healthcare organization. Recently, a hospital in the Netherlands began putting gastrointestinal (GI) patients up in a hotel instead of having them stay in the hospital. This appears to be the first study to look at the impact of the outpatient hotel experience on the patient experience. Results show that when generally healthy patients can spend the night in outpatient hotels, their outpatient stay is more comfortable, and the overall perceptions around quality of care may be more positive. Some of you may remember the Motel 6 commercials and Tom Bodet promising to leave the light on for you? Well maybe we need to consider an option for patients where they don’t have to worry about the lights being left on, so they can get a good night’s rest.

    Slidecast
    October 2022 Slidecast

    Xuan, X., Duan, X., Feng, Z. (2022). The demand for specialization and its influence on the design of inpatient nursing units: Can standardized design be done once and for all?

    General medical-surgical units within a single facility have a similar design, but often provide specialized care. Options to create work efficiencies for nurses who may engage in unique tasks depending on the patient populations served, might improve patient care. Researchers developed a survey to collect demographic data and information on caregiving activities which was distributed to nurses on several types of general units. Additionally, ten nurses from different units were interviewed. Survey results demonstrated statistically significant differences in nurse perceptions of walking distance, clinical space, communication privacy, visibility, facilities and storage, acoustics, lighting, and thermal comfort. Interview data indicated that although nurses felt there was enough work similarity to justify a uniform unit layout across general nursing units, there were differences in terms of specialized caregiving activities required for unique patient populations, differences in spatial requirements for caregiving activities, and differences in allocation of space for equipment.

    Slidecast
    October 2022 Slidecast

    Tseung, V., Verweel, L., Harvey, M., Pauley, T., Walker, J. (2022). Hospital outdoor spaces: User experience and implications for design

    While outdoor views and spaces can positively impact patient and hospital staff outcomes, research is needed to understand how outdoor design might contribute to patient therapy in post-acute and rehabilitation care. Researchers used a pre-occupancy evaluation to interview patients, family, and staff involved with rehabilitation activities in the outdoor areas of an existing hospital to inform the design of a new facility. Researchers identified three overarching themes: outdoor spaces and views help patients focus on life beyond their illness, specific design elements should be considered when planning outdoor views and spaces, and deliberate design of outdoor spaces can promote rehabilitation. Design elements identified in this single-site study include: year-round visual access to the outdoors, a variety of plants, water, and wildlife; challenging grades that support therapy but do not create barriers for patients with mobility issues; safety stations and clear signage for trails or paths; and separate spaces for patients/families and staff.

    Slidecast
    October 2022 Slidecast

    Fay, L., Real, K., Haynes, S. (2022). The healthcare workspace: Understanding the role of decentralized nursing stations, corridors, and huddle spaces as locations for teamwork in a neonatal intensive care unit

    Decentralization of nurses to corridor alcoves has placed them closer to the patient bedside, but has also resulted in unintended, negative consequences including reduced collaboration and teamwork. Researchers in this single-site study conducted a multi-phased pre-and post-occupancy evaluation of multidisciplinary care in a NICU transitioning from an open-bay to a single-family room layout. They looked for differences in collaboration among caregivers between the two layouts, and evaluated the use of nursing stations, corridors, and huddle stations on the new unit. Generally, survey respondents from a variety of disciplines demonstrated statistically significant improvements in perceptions of job satisfaction, well-being, and design satisfaction in the new unit but they had lower perceptions of teamwork although not statistically significant. Observations indicated that within professions the majority of communication occurred at the decentralized nursing stations, but when more than two professions were communicating, the huddle stations were most frequently used.

    Slidecast
    October 2022 Slidecast

    Lim, L., Kanfer, R., Stroebel, R. J., Zimring, C. M. (2020). Backstage staff communication: The effects of different levels of visual exposure to patients

    Good communication and teamwork among healthcare staff is essential to quality healthcare. “Backstage areas” – or the areas away from patients – can provide privacy for staff discuss patient information, build relationships, and provide training. Conversations often include sensitive information about patients’ health, as well as specific patient needs or circumstances (for instance, letting each other know about a patient who is upset, or a patient who is hard-of-hearing). While there is a great deal of research around visibility in the workplace and team interaction, not many of these studies have focused on the healthcare workplace, and even fewer have looked at visual privacy from patients. The results of this study show that staff have a strong preference for the option of visually private backstage areas, but that more open areas can also support comfortable communication – especially when the design provides clear delineation to support adequate visual privacy from patients.

    Slidecast
    October 2022 Slidecast

    Keys, Y., Stichler, J. F. (2018). Safety and Security Concerns of Nurses Working in the Intensive Care Unit: A Qualitative Study

    Safety and security are top priorities for healthcare organizations, and are especially important in areas where patients are at their most vulnerable, such as the intensive care unit (ICU). ICU nurses and providers have intense responsibilities when caring for complex patients and a safe and secure environment of care is necessary. There is very little research on how design of the ICU environment affects nurse perceptions of safety – safety for themselves and for other patients. In addition, the research that does exist is largely based on an assumption that ICUs are safe and secure places. The current study begins to test this assumption, and results suggest the following recommendations for ICU design: smaller unit sizes, the need for improved visibility, the ability to access alternate exits, including security controls for emergencies or threats, and providing adequate staffing.

    Slidecast
    October 2022 Slidecast

    Jiang, S., Allison, D., Duchowski, A. T. (2022). Hospital greenspaces and the impacts on wayfinding and spatial experience: An explorative experiment through immersive virtual environment (IVE) techniques

    Healthcare facilities are notoriously complex spaces, and wayfinding is a common challenge. There is evidence from previous studies that certain design interventions can improve wayfinding, such as environmental cues and clear signage. But people from different backgrounds interpret signage differently, and so we need to think about other ways design can support navigation. Results from this 2022 study by Jiang and colleagues show that visual access to the exterior natural environment seems to help support recognition, orientation, and mood – all of which can set visitors up for better wayfinding, and ultimately – for a better healthcare experience.

     

    Slidecast
    October 2022 Slidecast

    Machry, H., Matić, Z., Oh, Y., DuBose, J. R., Morgan, J. S., Love, K. L., Jacob, J. T., Zimring, C. M. (2022). Healthcare design to improve safe doffing of personal protective equipment for care of patients with COVID-19

    In the early days of the pandemic, infection prevention protocols were focused on the possibility of contact transmission, including intensive efforts to provide and keep personal protective equipment (PPE) clean. Now, more than two years into the COVID-19 pandemic, we have a clear understanding that the main mode of transmission happens via airborne droplets and particles. But contact transmission is still possible, and healthcare leadership must consider how to address contact transmission possibilities from all types of infectious disease. This study gives us good reason to consider standardization, with room for flexibility, in order to support efficient and safe behavior.

    Product / Project Innovation Highlights
    October 2022 Product / Project Innovation Highlights

    Healthy Environments Medella with M-ForceTM Ultra Technology is a homogenous resilient sheet option, installed with welded seams, creating a wall-to-wall impermeable flooring solution that provides superior infection control and moisture resistance for healing spaces.