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Knowledge Repository

A complete, user-friendly database of healthcare design research references MoreLess about the Knowledge Repository

The Knowledge Repository is a complete, user-friendly database of healthcare design research references that continues to grow with the latest peer-reviewed publications. Start with our Knowledge Repository for all of your searches for articles and research citations on healthcare design topics. Access full texts through the source link, read key point summaries, or watch slidecasts. Expand your search and find project briefs, interviews, and other relevant resources by visiting our Insights & Solutions page.

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Displaying 1 - 20 of 27

Ready-JET-Go: Split Flow Accelerates ED Throughput

Author(s): Bish, P. A., McCormick, M. A., Otegbeye, M.
Emergency departments (ED) in America have seen large increases in demand for emergency services over the last decade. This increased demand for ED services has resulted in delayed treatment for patients, increased rates of patients leaving the ED without receiving treatment, and decreases in satisfactory ED visit experiences.
Key Point Summary
Added December 2015

From “Baby Barn” to the “Single Family Room Designed NICU”: A Report of Staff Perceptions One Year Post Occupancy

Author(s): Cone, S. K., Short, S., Gutcher, G.
Single Family Rooms (SFRs) are becoming an increasingly popular design model in the care of critically ill preterm infants. The advantages of this physical environment to the infant, family and care providers is well documented.
Key Point Summary
Added July 2015

Space, Choice and Control, and Quality of Life in Care Settings for Older People

Author(s): Barnes, S.
In Britain, residential care and nursing homes for elderly patients have been subject to changing design regulations over several decades. These regulations take into account the “gradations of space” allotted to patients, meaning the extent to which the buildings themselves provide public, semiprivate, and private spaces for the patients.
Key Point Summary
Added December 2014

Effect of intensive care environment on family and patient satisfaction: a before–after study

Author(s): Jongerden, I. P., Slooter, A. J., Peelen, L. M., Wessels, H., Ram, C. M., Kesecioglu, J., Schneider, M. M., van Dijk, D.
Intensive care units or ICUs are changing from multi-bed units to single-patient room units. According to the authors, these changes may have an impact on family satisfaction. With the patient often in a critical non-communicative position, it falls on family members to make decisions and evaluate satisfaction.
Key Point Summary
Added November 2014

Dementia Care Redesigned: Effects of Small-Scale Living Facilities on Residents, Their Family Caregivers, and Staff

Author(s): Verbeek, H., Zwakhalen, S. M. G., van Rossum, E., Ambergen, T., Kempen, G., Hamers, J. P. H.
Small-scale environments are increasing in popularity for the care of dementia patients. This study aims to evaluate the effectiveness of this strategy.
Key Point Summary
Added September 2014

Enhancing a primary care environment: a case study of effects on patients and staff in a single general practice

Author(s): Rice, G., Ingram, J., Mizan, J.
The stress and satisfaction of patients and staff are important healthcare outcomes. Patient satisfaction and stress strongly impacts patient health, the images of healthcare organizations, patient loyalty, patient retention and attraction, operating revenue, and profit margin. Staff stress and job satisfaction directly impacts the quality of patient care, work efficiency, and staff turnover intent.
Key Point Summary
Added November 2012

Effects of different interior decorations in the seclusion area of a psychiatric acute ward

Author(s): Vaaler, A.E., Morken, G., Linaker, O.M.
Seclusion, or containment of a patient in an enclosed area, is a common practice in psychiatric acute wards. Traditionally such areas have been used for the dual purpose of meeting the safety and containment needs of behaviorally disturbed patients, and obtaining a decrease in sensory and emotional input (based on the belief that external stimuli would cause patients to suffer excessive mental anxiety). The design and furnishings of the seclusion area are influenced by this need to reduce external stimuli and maintain safety. They are typically sparsely furnished minimizing risk of any physical harm.
Key Point Summary
Added October 2012

Designed sound and music environment in postanaesthesia care units—–a multicentre study of patients and staff

Author(s): Thorgaard, P., Ertmann, E., Hansen, V., Noerregaard, A., Spanggard, L.
Music is arguably the non-pharmocological intervention with the most evidence to support it. It has been succesfully used to ease patient pain perception, anxiety and distress for many pre and post procedure settings. However, a majority of the studies implement music intervention at one on one level (providing patients with headphones etc to listen to music). Little research has investigated the design significance of improving the sound environment through music.
Key Point Summary
Added October 2012

Effects of waiting on the satisfaction with the service: Beyond objective time measures

Author(s): Pruyn, A., Smidts, A.
Wait times are a persistent concern in healthcare today. It is a concern that healthcare shares with other service industries. To counter this waiting areas provide numerous distractions- TVs, magazines, vending machines, computer kiosks etc. The efficacy of these distractions is beginning to be studied in greater detail today.
Key Point Summary
Added October 2012

Patient satisfaction in an acute medicine department in Morocco

Author(s): Soufi, G., Belayachi, J., Himmich, S., Ahid, S., Soufi, M., Zekraoui, A., Abouqal, R.
Patients' satisfaction is an important indicator for quality of care. Measuring healthcare quality and improving patient satisfaction have become increasingly prevalent, especially among healthcare providers and purchasers of healthcare. This is mainly due to the fact that consumers are becoming increasingly more knowledgeable about healthcare. This Open Source study focuses on inpatient satisfaction with hospital care in an Arabic culture in Morocco.
Key Point Summary
Added October 2012

Single Room Maternity Care and Client Satisfaction

Author(s): Janssen, P.A., Klein, M.C., Harris, S.J., Soolsma, J., Seymour, L.C.
Maternity care has evolved from the traditional practice of admitting women to labor rooms, moving them to delivery rooms, and then transferring them to postpartum wards, to a family-centered model where intrapartum and post partum care is provided in a single room, under the care of one nurse. The traditional model was directed at economy for the institution, however, for the mother, this could result in feelings of disorientation, anxiety, lack of space, and repeated adjustment to new caregivers.
Key Point Summary
Added October 2012

Evaluation of the built environment at a Children's Convalescent Hospital: Development of the Pediatric Quality of Life Inventory (TM) parent and staff satisfaction measures for pediatric health care facilities

Author(s): Varni J. W., Burwinkle T. M., Dickinson P., Sherman S. A., Dixon P., Ervice J. A., Leyden P. A., Sadler B. L.
The expectation that the hospital built environment may affect the health and satisfaction of patients and their families continues to interest health care providers and hospital administrators as they differentiate and distinguish the quality and health outcomes of their services. In preparation for the design, construction, and postoccupancy evaluation of a new Children’s Convalescent Hospital, focus groups were conducted and measurement instruments were developed to quantify and characterize parent and staff satisfaction with the built environment of an existing pediatric health care facility, a 30-year-old, 59-bed, long-term, skilled nursing facility dedicated to the care of medically fragile children with complex chronic conditions. The measurement instruments were designed in close collaboration with parents, staff, and senior management involved with the existing and planned facility.
Key Point Summary
Added October 2012

Distraction therapy with nature sights and sounds reduces pain during flexible bronchoscopy: A complementary approach to routine analgesia

Author(s): Diette, G.B., Lechtzin, N, Haponik, E, Devrotes, A, Rubin, H
The demand for better healthcare includes the demand for proper treatment of pain. Joint commission standards for maintaining accreditation also apply to chronic medical conditions and the management of pain. Non-pharmacological methods of managing pain have gained popularity because patients can continue to experience pain despite the use of premedication analgesics and sedatives. Besides there are often side-effects associated with any use of medication. This is of particular concern for invasive procedures such as Flexible Bronchoscopy (FB) that can be frightening and painful for patients.
Key Point Summary
Added October 2012

A Novel PACU Design for Noise Reduction

Author(s): Smykowski, L.
As redesign and renovation of patient care units occur, health care providers need to consider the importance of lowering environmental stressors. Noise in the hospital environment is one well documented problem, with detrimental effects to both patients and staff. The paper reviews the redesign of the organization's PACU that explored a unique floor plan to minimize noise and improve privacy.
Key Point Summary
Added October 2012

Factors Determining Inpatient Satisfaction With Care

Author(s): Thi, P. L.N. , Briancon,S., Empereur, F., Guillemin, F.
With the growing interest in patient-centered care, patient evaluations of their own experiences have been increasingly used to improve the quality of care. Factors associated with satisfaction are thought to include the structure, process and outcome of care as well as patient sociodemographic, physical and psychological status, and attitudes and expectations concerning medical care.
Key Point Summary
Added October 2012

Effects of music therapy on women’s physiologic measures, anxiety, and satisfaction during cesarean delivery.

Author(s): Chang, S-C., Chen, C-H.
Due to many factors Taiwan has a high rate of cesarean birth deliveries. Childbirth causes high stress in women. In case of cesarean birth such stress increases because it is a major surgery. For many women cesarean birth has negative emotional consequences. Music therapy, the systematic application of music to aid in the treatment of physiological and psychological aspects of an illness or disability, has been shown in multiple studies to help reduce anxiety and stress, distract attention and increase threshold of pain during painful procedures. Music therapy has the potential to help women recover from cesarean deliveries.
Key Point Summary
Added October 2012

A comparison of patient and staff satisfaction with services after relocating to a new purpose-built mental health facility

Author(s): Cleary, M., Hunt, G., Walter, G.
The physical environment of a hospital can support recovery from mental illness. Mental health patients are extremely vulnerable to changes in their environments. The paper reports on the impact on patients and staff of a relocation of Australia’s oldest and largest psychiatric hospitals, Sydney’s Rozelle Hospital. The new 174-bed purpose-built meant health facility provided patients with their own rooms within single story units. Further, patients were grouped in wards based on the phase of their illness and required treatment.
Key Point Summary
Added October 2012

Effect of Sacred Space Environment on Surgical Patient Outcomes: A Pilot Study

Author(s): Schmock, B. N., Breckenridge, D. M., Benedict, K.
With the growing trend to patient-centered care, nurses are often tasked to evaluate how care is delivered. The perioperative environment is highly technical in nature and is often perceived as cold, while creating a sense of fear in patients. This study's purpose was to create an alternative healing environment (termed a sacred space and comprised of both environmental and nurse behavioral factors) compared to the traditional environment for surgical patients in the operating room (OR).
Key Point Summary
Added October 2012

Cancer Patients' Satisfaction With Care in Traditional and Innovative Ambulatory Oncology Clinics

Author(s): Groff, S. L., Carlson, L. E., Tsang, K., Potter, B. J.
Recent advances in cancer care allow more cancer patients to be treated on an ambulatory care basis, whether chemotherapy, radiation therapy or follow-up care. Care can include physical, psychological, and emotional challenges. Ambulatory oncology clinics have the opportunity to create positive treatment experiences for patients.
Key Point Summary
Added October 2012

Relaxation music decreases the dose of patient-controlled sedation during colonoscopy: a prospective randomized controlled trial

Author(s): Lee, D.W.H, Chan, K, Poon, C, Ko, C, Chan, K, Sin, K, Chan, A.C.W
Colonoscopy is an unpleasant and stressful procedure which often requires a high doseage of sedatives for the patients. Additionally patient noncompliance with recommendations for colonoscopy procedures can become a challenge in surveilance programs for screening cancer. This study explores the effectiveness of a non-pharmocological intervention, like relaxation music, on patient-controlled sedation.
Key Point Summary
Added October 2012