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Medical Construction & Design | SEPTEMBER /OCTOBER 2017 | MCDM AG.COM
Like the overall healthcare landscape,
the world of palliative care has been
experiencing rapid growth and changes
in methodologies of patient care. This
trend is building as the aging population
and the number of Americans living
with serious illnesses increase at an
ever-accelerating pace. According to the
National Hospice and Palliative Care
Organization, hospice use has surged,
with 1.5 million Americans receiving
hospice care in 2013, compared with
246,000 in 1994.
Why not then design uplifting spaces
where patients can fi nd joy despite
their life-limiting illnesses, even if it's
in small ways? Design of the physical
environment can ease the patient's pain
and lessen the suff ering of the patient's
family, helping create the conditions
for more comfortable end-of-life-
experiences. It can also alleviate the
burden placed on the palliative care
community — the doctors, nurses and
caregivers that manage the care of
patients with serious illness and short
life expectancies (typically six months
or less).
When the process of dying happens
in a natural way, there is an extended
period of time (days, weeks or months)
in which all participants must be
Li Li ke ke t he he o ve ve ra ra ll ll h ea ea lt lt hc hc ar ar e la la nd nd sc sc ap ap e, in in s ma ma ll ll w ay ay s? s? D es es ig ig n of of t he he p hy hy si si ca l
Comfort 1st
Modern approaches to
redesigning the
hospice experience
BY DR. ELLEN A. BASSETT & CHARLES RIZZA