Medical Construction & Design

MAR-APR 2017

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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46 Medical Construction & Design | M A RCH /A PR IL 2017 | MCDM AG.COM a s a marketer for an architecture fi rm, part of my job is to put myself in the shoes of a healthcare system client, consider their wants and needs for their facilities and work with our team to deliver the right plan and message to meet their expec- tations. Through my work, I've learned so much about specifi c healthcare spaces, such as ambulatory surgery centers, inpatient hospitals, sports medicine, NICU space needs and cancer treatment facilities. Refl ecting back, I rarely looked at these spaces from a patient's perspective; typically I wrote about design and plan- ning based on a combination of what I knew the client wanted, industry best practices and our fi rm's experience. That was my approach, until my diagnosis with cancer in April 2016. Up until that time, my per- sonal experience in any type of healthcare facility was limited to visiting loved ones along with a handful of well visits through- out the year. That all changed when, over the course of nearly eight months, I spent countless hours during imaging, chemo- therapy, surgery consultation, pre- and post-op and radia- tion in exam rooms, treatment spaces and waiting rooms. While I received what ultimately became life-saving treatment, there was another component to my experience — the spaces in which I received this care. I saw my worlds begin to collide as an architectural marketer and as a patient and I wondered how these spaces could better contribute to the mental and physical well-being of other cancer patients. Here are three ideas: First impressions matter It's a natural instinct to draw immediate conclusions upon arriving anywhere. Whether it's at a hotel, restaurant or healthcare facility, those fi rst experiences can either build confi dence or break it. When walking through the front door at my fi rst cancer treatment plan consultation, I crossed the threshold directly into a vast waiting room fi lled with people dealing with a similar diagno- sis. Some of these people had already lost their hair, others appeared sick and weak. That fi rst impression was a strong dose of reality. CHALLENGE: Through the eyes of healthcare planners, it may seem logical to place the waiting area near the entrance of a building, but consider the opportunity to create a wel- coming, confi dence-building impression to soften those fi rst moments in a cancer treatment facility. Three challenges for designers to consider on healthcare projects BY KENDRA BROWN perspective a cancer patient's

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