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Medical Construction & Design | M AY/ J U N E 2017 | MCDM AG.COM
BY ERICA STEENSTRA
When considering patients' physical
and emotional comfort, health organiza-
tions can ease heightened emotions and
make healthcare a less stressful event in a
number of ways, especially when explor-
ing the touchpoints throughout a patient's
medical experience.
There are a number of furniture and
fabric solutions that have emerged to
better support patients, their families and
caregivers, further ensuring that health
organizations are able to provide better
experiences and enhance their reputation
for delivering quality care.
With so many choices available to
healthcare consumers today, they will
naturally choose products and services
that give them the greatest value and
experience. Every touchpoint in the
consumer's journey can potentially add
value and contribute to the overall posi-
tive experience including many aspects
of the physical environment, such as the
furnishing's fi nishes and upholsteries, as
well as its style and arrangement.
Impact, opportunity
with furniture
The arrangement of furniture, the fi nish
materials, upholstery patterns and colors
can all aff ect, in a very positive way, a pa-
tient's sense of ease, comfort and welcome
in a healthcare setting. In recent years
there has been a trend toward designing
environments that take cues from the hos-
pitality world or provide a more home-
like experience. This trend has infl uenced
new options for furniture and upholstery
fabrics with particular focus on waiting
spaces, consult rooms, exam rooms and
patient rooms.
Consider what has previously been the
norm for healthcare waiting rooms: rigid
furniture, lined-up bus terminal style.
This bland pattern is not conducive to
promoting a sense of ease or privacy as it
does not allow patients and their family
members the choice of sitting in a more
HEALING TOUCH
A look at trends in healthcare furniture, upholstery
2-4%
Furniture typically accounts
for roughly 2-4 percent of
capital budgets. — healthdesign.org
1,600
Number of individual furniture pieces
in a typical new 200,000-square-foot
inpatient hospital — healthdesign.org
INTERIORS
ISSUE FOCUS