Medical Construction & Design

MAY-JUN 2016

Medical Construction & Design (MCD) is the industry's leading source for news and information and reaches all disciplines involved in the healthcare construction and design process.

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Healthcare facility planning often focuses on programming, operations and patient safety as planners benchmark metrics to improve workfl ows and clinical outcomes. Rarely do patients' emotions enter the planning equation. Yet a growing emphasis on wellness and the patient experience is adding new dimensions to the planning process as research links design to emotional well-being and clinical outcomes. Many people enter a hospital for an urgent need. Yet once there, many design elements can help lessen the emotional stress and heighten well-being. Planning around keystone experiences can help gain deeper insight into patients' emotional needs in highly stressful situations and result in holistic interiors that support workfl ow ef ciency, clinical outcomes and human well-being. Identifying keystone experiences Keystone experiences resonate with people intuitively upon approaching a healthcare facility, such as a sense of safety, cleanliness, warmth, comfort and quality of care as they access the services through three primary access points — outpatient, inpatient and urgent care. Planning around keystone experiences begins by identifying positive patient ex- periences in the early planning stage. Each hospital is dif erent and each community is dif erent as keystone experiences refl ect regional variations. Rather than think of keystone experiences as a planning add- on, consider keystone experiences integral to benchmarking data that feeds into the planning and design process. Keystone experiences can be iden- tifi ed through a series of interactive workshops, in which select hospital staf , including doctors, nurses and admin- istrators and design team members interview patients and community mem- bers to record experiences and wish-list items. By using a patient-journal toolkit that includes several research techniques (interview questions, photo journaling, shadowing and storytelling), participants can record patients' reactions though all stages of the healthcare journey, including: > Understanding: What is the patient's relationship with the hospital prior to check-in? > Entry: How should the patient access services? > Assessment: How should decisions be made regarding the patient's care? > Treatment: How should the experi- ence of receiving, evaluating and adjust- ing treatment be handled? > Transition: How is the patient pre- pared for checkout? In post-interview sessions, staf mem- bers and design team members then item- ize and benchmark top-level experiences that can serve as guideposts for design. For instance, comments such as a need for clear wayfi nding, places for quiet respite, a connection to nature and plenty of natural light, may come out of the workshops. INTEGRATING KEYSTONE EXPERIENCES INTO HOLISTIC DESIGN BY KURT SPIERING NEW PLANNING DIMENSIONS Owensboro: Halkin Mason Photography; NGMC images: Darris Lee Harris For the entry lobby, workshop responses focused on a sense of openness and intuitive visual understanding of wayfi nding. The reception desk orients visitors, increasing independence and sense of control. > The fi nal Owensboro Health Regional Hospital features an undulating glass wall that leads to the main entrance and atrium. HOLISTIC SPACES H O L I S T I C S P A C E S ISSUE FOCUS MCDM AG.COM | M AY/ J U N E 2016 | Medical Construction & Design 39

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