Bridging the Gap: Multidisciplinary Collaboration in Medicine and Architecture

As the world becomes increasingly connected and information is freely shared, a trend toward interdisciplinary collaboration is taking place in both industry and education. This trend is highlighted by recent collaboration between clinicians and architects in both research and design. In the design of healthcare spaces, architects are working with clinicians and researchers to employ an evidence-based approach to making design decisions.

The advent of Evidence-Based Design represents a shift from basing design decisions solely on tradition or opinion to an approach that emphasizes the importance of using credible research to inform design decisions. The research expertise of clinicians is vital to the practice of Evidence-Based Design, which traces its origins to the well-established concepts of Evidence-Based Medicine. In the context of healthcare, Evidence-Based Design focuses on design interventions that help make hospitals safer and more comfortable for patients and staff, that promote healing, and that are fiscally sustainable.

Through case studies and other examples, this paper illustrates how the growing body of credible research regarding the impact of the built environment on people creates unique opportunities for architects and clinicians to work together toward a common goal of evidence-based practice.

Read more about evidence-based practice and the need for further collaboration between the fields of architecture and medicine.