Photo: Kyle J Caldwell; courtesy of Bison Innovative Products

“Health is a state of complete physical, mental, and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity.” −World Health Organization Constitution.

HEALTHCARE IS HOLISTIC

There is a renewed emphasis in healthcare design that seeks “the patients’ point of view, considering not only their physical, but also their social and psychological needs; this has prompted interventions aimed at enhancing the physical, sensory, and psychological comfort, improving wayfinding systems, and increasing the clarity of the meanings communicated by space design.”1 Yet a holistic approach to healthcare design is not an invention of the twenty-first century. In 1839, the Lexicon Medicum mentioned the “healing powers of nature,” arguing that many illnesses could be cured without the help of medicines, simply by focusing on air, sustenance, comfort, physical movement, and positive feelings.2

What is new today is cutting-edge research’s confirmation of holistic, whole-person design strategies. Design derived from data is also known as Evidence-Based Design (EBD). EBD is the process of basing decisions about the built environment on credible research to achieve the best possible outcomes. For healthcare, this movement began notably in 1980 with Roger S. Ulrich’s work.

Photo: Fotoworks/Benny Chan; courtesy Rockfon

Patient-centered care must necessarily involve person-centered design. Methods, materials, and products for healthcare should empower the whole person.

Photo: ©Kyle Jeffers; courtesy of PABCO Gypsum

Considering the whole person in healthcare design comprehends mental and emotional reactions to the built world.

According to The Center for Health Design, EBD follows eight steps within its process:³

• Define evidence-based goals and objectives.
• Find sources for relevant evidence.
• Critically interpret relevant evidence.
• Create and innovate evidence-based design concepts.
• Develop a hypothesis.
• Collect baseline performance measures.
• Monitor implementation of design and construction.
• Measure post-occupancy performance results.

Data demonstrate that to obtain the best outcomes, the experience of healthcare for both patients and staff should be based not only on physical treatment but also on mental and emotional well-being.

EBD equips architects and design professionals to develop a healthcare design that plays a tangible role in the restoration of their patients’ health.⁴ To accomplish this, it is important to specify materials that intentionally support wellness for patients, visitors, and staff in modern healthcare facilities.

EBD Notes for Healthcare

While safety is obviously the right place for the healthcare design community to start when planning, it is clearly not the place to stop.⁵ Cutting-edge holistic care spaces require a new way of thinking and an approach that considers human needs in their entirety, rather than in a strictly therapeutic sense only6 “Normative” approaches have been criticized as oversimplifying the complexity of whole-patient care.⁷ However, emerging evidence suggests that certain design features facilitate key benefits in healthcare.⁸

• A homelike, deinstitutionalized environment that supports patient autonomy and control over their own environment.
• A well-maintained and well-organized environment.
• Noise control (acoustic comfort).
• Support for privacy.
• Access to daylight and views of nature.
• Physical access to the outdoors.
• Support for feelings of personal safety/security.
• Support for social interaction.
• Positive distraction.

Photo courtesy Inpro

Considered holistically, materials and products can perform unique design functions. Art enables wayfinding in new settings and personalizes the healthcare space.

Photo courtesy The Chicago Faucet Company

Solving water delivery system challenges in healthcare with the right products alleviates concerns about healthcare-associated infections as well as factors like patient access.

Photo courtesy PABCO Gypsum

Pursuing holistic healthcare design goes beyond surface-level decisions. Careful attention to selections made in all material categories—even those unseen, like gypsum panels—will facilitate many benefits, including better acoustics and prevention of mold.