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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January 2015∘
EDAC Advocate Firm Project ∘
The goal of this project was to create a non-traditional model of an ambulatory-focused care environment that incorporates evidence-based design concepts and supports Centura Health’s ability to deliver human-centered care services across the full continuum of need.
January 2015∘
EDAC Advocate Firm Project ∘
The goal of this project was to enhance the interior environments along the the Pike. They should harness the healing power of nature, improve way finding, provide places of respite and positive distractions for patients and visitors and include nutritious food offerings.
January 2015∘
EDAC Advocate Firm Project ∘
The goal of this project was to work with Filadelfia Epilepsy Hospital was to ensure optimal physical settings that enter into a positive and productive synergy with those processes and clinical pathways, taking place within them.
January 2015∘
EDAC Advocate Firm Project ∘
The goal of this project was to create a care environment that gives patients control over their environment, and reduce stress levels. By providing patient choice of infusion room layouts, the goals of the project are, increasing satisfaction and enhancing hope, and encouraging social interaction.
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.
January 2015∘
EDAC Advocate Firm Project ∘
The goal for this project was to design the Southwest Centre for Forensic Mental Health Care was to challenge the aesthetic typically associated with that of a forensic detention facility, while focusing on supporting the client’s healing process.
January 2015∘
EDAC Advocate Firm Project ∘
The goal of this project was to maximize direct patient care activities and increase caregiver efficiency while incorporating the use of evidence-base design principles in the delivery of a two-floor, 52,000-square-foot children’s hospital expansion including both general pediatric beds and a pediatric intensive care unit.
January 2015∘
EDAC Advocate Firm Project ∘
The goal of this project was to create an assisted living environment that offers an exceptional resident experience through a design that emulates a home-like environment; and supports operational efficiencies to allow staff to better-manage and care for a resident population with diverse and increasing acuity levels, so they may age in place.
January 2015∘
EDAC Advocate Firm Project ∘
The goal of this project was to address issues of satisfaction and comfort for patients who are predominantly sight impaired and have comprised mobility through intentional EBD lighting solutions. Additionally, evidence on color and layout informed the space planning in the design, facilitating improved wayfinding and safe navigation.
January 2015∘
EDAC Advocate Firm Project ∘
The goal of this project was to create a quieter experience in the Cardiac Care Unit. Kahler Slater completed a two-phased Sound Study to help identify ways to decrease noise.
February 2018∘
Tool ∘
Design interventions to improve well-being for patients with behavioral and mental health (BMH) conditions will often have impacts on other populations, as well (e.g., staff, visitors, non-BMH patients who use the same facility). This tool will help you consider those broader impacts and incorporate them into an evidence-based process for a universal design approach.
February 2018∘
Interview ∘
Inside you will learn about: why behavioral health facilities have very different design requirements than general hospitals; how different areas of a behavioral health unit have different safety needs that influence design choices; and which types of safety measures and products should be incorporated into behavioral health units.
Pati, D., Pati, S., & Harvey Jr, T. E. (2016). Security implications of physical design attributes in the emergency department. HERD: Health Environments Research & Design Journal, 9(4), 50-63.
August 2014∘
Webinar ∘
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.
