Insights & Solutions

Maximize Space, Manage Volume, & Improve Communication in the Emergency Department

April 2017 ∘ Project Brief ∘
Learn about: methods to minimize patient wait times and maximize use of hospital space, guiding principles implemented in a Seattle children’s hospital to improve patient and provider communication, and how architects, healthcare providers, and families can collaborate to design a patient-centered emergency department.

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Project Brief

Chair-Centric Waiting Area Addresses Emergency Department Throughput Challenges

April 2017 ∘ Project Brief ∘
Learn about: evidence-based design solutions to address throughput challenges in today’s overcrowded emergency departments, the importance of aligning research design with organizational operations and processes for successful research, and the advantages of basing research methods on previous studies.

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Project Brief

Urban Pediatric Hospital ED Takes a Unique Approach to Meet Patient Needs

April 2017 ∘ Project Brief ∘
Learn about: unique ways that a pediatric replacement hospital leverages its small urban footprint to meet the high demand for ED services, why locating the emergency department on the second floor was the most efficient way to use limited space, and how a three-pod design enables the ED to flex at different times of day for varying levels of demand.

Slidecast

Isolation or Interaction: Healthcare Provider Experience of Design Change

April 2020 ∘ Slidecast ∘
Van Heuvelen, J.S. (2019). Isolation or Interaction: Healthcare Provider Experience of Design Change. Sociology of Health & Illness, 41(4), 692-708. While the role of the built environment is often overlooked in sociology, van Heuvelen examined the role of the environment as a mediator of organizational culture. This ethnographic study draws on sociology and an "inhabited institutionalist" theoretical framework to assess the staff experience of adjusting to the move from an open-bay to a single family room NICU. Findings show moving to the new SFR unit resulted in less time for discussion and personal support, resulting in a higher reliance on individual assessment skills. This was felt to undermine the culture of collaboration, but in other instances, the prior collaborative culture was transposed.

Webinar

Behavioral Health Behind Closed Doors

December 2018 ∘ Webinar ∘
This webinar explores how MedStar Health is using fast-track design to help catalyze a new model of behavioral health, using the reduction of barriers, small house concepts and interior design strategies to create positive environments where patients are positively impacted.

Interview

The Design of a Psychiatric Clinic in Borås Sweden Strives to Create a "Healing" Environment, an interview with Stefan Lundin and Cristiana Caira

February 2018 ∘ Interview ∘
Learn about how the design of a new psychiatric facility strives to normalize mental illness through carefully chosen materials with the goal of creating a “homey,” non-institutional setting, why private patient rooms will be included in the new final building as an important part of the design concept, and how research helped shape the architects’ beliefs that the built environment should support patients’ dignity and independence as part of the recovery process.

Issue Brief

Design for Behavioral and Mental Health: More Than Just Safety

February 2018 ∘ Issue Brief ∘
As part of the Behavioral & Mental Health toolbox, in this issue brief you will learn about the prevalence of behavioral and mental health conditions as comorbidities; design strategies for promoting psychological wellness; and a systematic benefit analysis approach to meet the psychological needs of all.

EBD Journal Club

Does Space Matter? An Exploratory Study for a Child–Adolescent Mental Health Inpatient Unit

August 2017 ∘ EBD Journal Club ∘

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.

Tool

Ambulatory Care Center Design Tool

December 2015 ∘ Tool ∘
This Ambulatory Care Center Design Tool (ACCDT), developed by Dr. Anjali Joseph and Dr. Zahra Zamani from Clemson University in collaboration with The Center for Health Design (CHD), builds upon a series of papers, best practice case studies and in-depth literature reviews conducted by CHD as well as CHD's Clinic Design Post-Occupancy Evaluation Toolkit – Tool 2 Audit of Physical Environment with additions from a thesis by Crews (2013). The tool supports design teams in making key design decisions about ambulatory care centers linked to evidence based design goals and principles.