Insights & Solutions

The Workshop  

In this workshop, expert faculty will share current physical, mental and societal challenges posed when individuals age, discuss programming and design interventions that can assist people (and their care givers) with those challenges, and present case studies and examples that integrate architecture, design and technology into healthy, safe living environments. 

Albala, L., Bober, T., Hale, G., Warfield, B., Collins, M. L., Merritt, Z., Steimetz, E., Nadler, S., Lev, Y., & Hanifin, J. (2019). Effect on nurse and patient experience: Overnight use of blue-depleted illumination. BMJ Open Quality, 8(3), e000692.

Nighttime caregiving requires light, and care providers often have no choice but to use blue-spectrum lighting that is disruptive to patient sleep. Researchers worked with a lighting expert to develop a blue-depleted light pod and compared outcomes between two nights with traditional lighting options and two nights with the light pods. Nurses were generally satisfied with the pods, and there was a statistically significant improvement in how patients rated their anxiety and depression. One of the most surprising findings from this study highlights the problem of nurses working in almost complete darkness in patient rooms to avoid disturbing patient sleep. And while blue-wavelength light is bad for patient sleep, no light is bad for everyone.

Devlin, A. S., Anderson, A., Hession-Kunz, S., Kelly, M., Noble, L., & Zou, A. (2020). Magnitude matters: Art image size and waiting time impact perceived quality of care. HERD: Health Environments Research & Design Journal, 13(3), 140–153.

Long wait times can have a negative impact on our healthcare experience and how we perceive the quality of care. Previous studies have looked at how the content of art may provide a positive distraction during a long wait. However, up until this 2020 study, no one has taken an empirical look at the effect of the size of the art on healthcare outcomes. Researchers used an online photo survey to investigate the effect of art size in an exam room. Results show that when it comes to art, size matters.

In this podcast, Alana M. Carter responds to the question, "how have you and your team responded to the pandemic and what’s happening now within your firm?” She shares, “It’s interesting as leaders.

Peditto, K., Shepley, M., Sachs, N., Mendle, J., & Burrow, A. (2020). Inadequacy and impact of facility design for adolescents and young adults with cancer. Journal of Environmental Psychology, 69, in press.

Adolescents and young adults (AYAs) with cancer often find they must seek treatment in pediatric facilities designed for much younger patients. Peditto and colleagues developed a questionnaire asking AYA cancer survivors to assess the built environment in terms of both importance and effectiveness. The results showed significant differences between what participants rated as important in cancer facilities– and what was rated as effective. The authors provide recommendations for facilitating desired social support in the AYA oncology environment, especially in the in-between-spaces that blur public and private use. They describe the importance of having choice and control as it relates to privacy, and having spaces that allow for informal social connection when AYA patients want it, with the option of private spaces (i.e. private patient rooms) when they don’t.

In this podcast, Joshua talks about Work Well---a new project, and new technology coming out of Leo A. Daly and their industry partners, to help fight COVID-19. Joshua shares, “Work Well started out as a 2 x 4 foot stick-built wood approach to scanning people as they come onboard. People pass through an entry door and the exit door, and there is a green and red light. If you get a green light, you can continue walking through and if you get a red light, you are going to stop. The light system is tied to a temperature scanning system.” Learn more about the genesis of Work Well, its privacy implications and how the healthcare industry is getting involved.

During the first months of the pandemic, what other facilities, aside from hospitals, were used as surge spaces? Joshua begins, “The US Army of Corps Engineers designated 17 alternate care facilities for surge capacity, and one of those was the Javits Center in New York City. If and when they are demolished, we are going to have a lot of extra product; $700 million dollars worth, and some of that is going to end up in the bin and that is a massive amount of waste.” Get an insider’s perspective into what else was going on behind the scenes during the first several months of the pandemic, and what new innovations are coming out of Leo A Daly’s firm.

Learn about the origins and expanding use of telemedicine for virtual care; the role of the built environment in facilitating care via telemedicine; and how evidence was used to support and develop language for guidance (requirements and recommendations).