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Insights & Solutions

Get the latest trends, tools, and resources for improving healthcare environments here. Browse our many free and members-only resources, including research reports and issue briefs, interviews, case studies, design strategies, lessons learned, key point summaries, and webinars.

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Interview

Using the Design Process to Create Safe and Comfortable Behavioral Health Environments, an interview with Francis Murdock Pitts
February 2018 ∘ Interview ∘
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.”
Interview

Exploring the Relationship Between the Built Environment and Behavioral Health, an interview with Mardelle McCuskey Shepley, M.Arch, D.Arch, EDAC
February 2018 ∘ Interview ∘

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.
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Webinar

ART+Science
January 2018 ∘ Webinar ∘
Art and Science.  In their finest expressions, they are one and the same. We face complex problems and no single approach can provide all the answers.  One cannot be a socially responsible designer or scientist without using both intuition and research. This presentation will cite historical and contemporary examples of individuals who support their simultaneous use to achieve creativity. The presentation will include a discussion of the definitions of art and science and the nature of the human mind.
EDAC Advocate Firm Project

HKS Architects and Hasenstab Architects Akron Children's Hospital Akron, Ohio
January 2018 ∘ EDAC Advocate Firm Project ∘
The goal of this project was to implement all-private patient room units (with the exception of enlarged rooms for twins/multiples); provide clear visibility and direct line of sight to all patients; increase privacy and offer greater support for mothers to nurse and have “kangaroo care” time with their newborns; improve family and nurse / physician communication; and reduce overall noise levels on the units.
EBD Journal Club

Setting the Stage: A Comparative Analysis of an Onstage/Offstage and a Linear Clinic Modules
January 2018 ∘ EBD Journal Club ∘
Freihoefer, K., Kaiser, L., Vonasek, D., & Bayramzadeh, S. (2017). Setting the Stage: A Comparative Analysis of an Onstage/Offstage and a Linear Clinic Modules. HERD: Health Environments Research & Design Journal, 1937586717729348.
Webinar

Safety Risk Assessment 2.0
January 2018 ∘ Webinar ∘
When we design healthcare facilities, we may not always have a complete understanding of how we can proactively design for safety and account for risk beyond fire and life safety. How can we more effectively consider safety issues like infections, falls, medication errors, injuries associated with patient handing or behavioral health, and security? 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.  
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Webinar

How to Commission Art in Your Healthcare Environment

December 2017 ∘ Webinar ∘
Artists and design professionals are working collaboratively across the globe to create amazing art projects in healthcare environments that energize, soothe, and provide positive distractions. Commissioned art projects are created in collaboration with the client and design team for the space. Across industries these projects are beautifying and transforming the places in which we live, work, play, and heal. This webinar focuses on methods, tools, and inspiration for commissioning art in healthcare environments. The presenter discusses how to determine your art requirements, finding the right artist, managing RFPs for artwork, and using digital tools to streamline the commission workflow process.
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Webinar

How I Learned to Stop Worrying & Love My Robot Doctor
October 2017 ∘ Webinar ∘
Remember doctor’s visits when you were growing up? The wooden tongue depressor. The well-worn stethoscope. As design harnesses digital, materials, and networking technologies, a very new health experience is just over the horizon. Proactive, lifestyle design, tracking real-time health data, non-invasive tools and custom “just for you” treatments based on your actual genome, are here. Together they are leading us to “stage zero” detection and treatment which has the potential to double or better the lifespan of every first-world citizen. This webinar highlights the macro factors shaping these realities, along with an in-depth exploration of the various impacts of and opportunities for design.  
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Webinar

Analysis and Simulation: Improving Team-Based Primary Care Design
October 2017 ∘ Webinar ∘
The Military Health System is moving all primary care to the patient-centered medical home (PCMH) model of care within a spectrum of purpose-designed healthcare buildings and retrofits of older medical facilities. The goal is to achieve better experience of care, per capita cost, population health, and overall readiness. This session summarizes the newest research evidence about how design can improve the delivery of team-based ambulatory care, discusses new metrics being delivered jointly between the Military Health System and Georgia Tech, and discusses how to design for a system with a wide spectrum of purpose-designed healthcare buildings and retrofits of older medical facilities.
EBD Journal Club

Toward a Framework for Designing Person-Centered Mental Health Interiors for Veterans
October 2017 ∘ EBD Journal Club ∘
Toward a Framework for Designing Person-Centered Mental Health Interiors for Veterans, Journal of Interior Design, DOI: 10.1111/joid.12095