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Design for Infection Control

Design and Research for Healthy Communities and Healthcare Facilities

May 17, 2021 / Dochitect / Design for Infection Control

Presentations

Event: Design and Research for Healthy Communities and Healthcare Facilities, University of Connecticut
Title: Architecture of Care During Pandemics
Date: May 17, 2021

Architecture of care during Pandemics
This session will examine the importance of the creation and utilization of space in hospital and clinic settings from different experts’ perspectives during moments of crises such as pandemics.

Diana C. Anderson, MD, M.Arch: Clinicians for Design, VA Boston Healthcare System
Title: Designing for Health Equity 
A growing body of research demonstrates that architecture is an important determinant of health. The current COVID-19 pandemic has exposed inequities in care delivery and health outcomes due to the built environment. Historical examples of the convergence of hospital architecture and medical practice exist. The design of the tuberculosis sanatorium during the early 20th century illustrates this infrequent intersection; the healthy building emphasizing contact with nature, developed to prevent the spread of contagions by isolating patients and preparing them for a return to normal life. In the context of the current global pandemic, we can revisit the sanatorium model to de-medicalize architecture, and emphasize infection prevention and control. COVID-19has highlighted the need for design thinking in healthcare to generate innovative solutions. This session addresses the built environment alongside other parameters of care, analogous to our medical interventions. How we might seek to harness this collaborative mindset and move towards shared knowledge is explored. It is imperative that we consider a convergence of the healthcare and design fields in order to promote innovative solutions to augment built environment resilience and subsequently support safe, efficient and equitable care.

More information about the event is available HERE.

Conference Presentations

How will COVID-19 Change Healthcare Design?

January 1, 2021 / Dochitect / Design for Infection Control, Design for Resiliency

Commentaries

Publication: Design Museum Magazine
Date: Published in print and online Winter 2020
Author: Diana Anderson, MD, ACHA & Matthew Holmes, ARB, RIBA
View article

Globally, the COVID-19 pandemic has tested the overall resilience of our health system infrastructure to cope with increased demand. It has also brought the importance of design and the built environment to the forefront when considering emergency preparedness and infection control.

Now, nine months into the pandemic, there have been lessons learned from the immediate challenges of medical facility design, in addition to ongoing discussions of the long-term changes which are likely to impact how, where, and when we access our care.

Read the full article HERE.

Commentaries

Nursing Home Design and COVID-19: Balancing Infection Control,Quality of Life, and Resilience

October 31, 2020 / Dochitect / Design for Geriatrics, Design for Infection Control, Design for Resiliency

Peer-reviewed publication

Publication: JAMDA – The Journal of Post-Acute and Long Term Care Medicine
Publication Reference: COVID-19 Special Article| Volume 21, ISSUE 11, P1519-1524, November 01, 2020
Authors: Anderson DC, Grey T, Kennelly S, O’Neill D

Abstract
Many nursing home design models can have a negative impact on older people and these flaws have been compounded by Coronavirus Disease 2019 and related infection control failures. This article proposes that there is now an urgent need to examine these architectural design models and provide alternative and holistic models that balance infection control and quality of life at multiple spatial scales in existing and proposed settings. Moreover, this article argues that there is a convergence on many fronts between these issues and that certain design models and approaches that improve quality of life, will also benefit infection control, support greater resilience, and in turn improve overall pandemic preparedness.

Access the full article HERE.

Peer-Reviewed Publications

Resilient Design in Healthcare Will Affect Pandemic Response

September 11, 2020 / Dochitect / Design for Infection Control, Design for Resiliency

Commentaries

Publication: HealthTech Magazine
Publication Date: September 11, 2020
Author: Diana Anderson
View article

“Has your company implemented safety strategies when returning to work? One of the most important strategies is to make room for safe socializing and distancing, reducing risks while maintaining comfort. Thank you for sharing, @dochitect!”
– Cindy Dunnavant, SVP of Sales & Marketing, EMI Health

Excerpt: Hospitals have always been places of healing, and the challenges of COVID-19 further underscore the value of evidence-based design to ensure care and continuity. This practice relies on empirical data to inform changes that better position physical and technological infrastructures to handle an evolving pandemic.

Simply put, buildings can protect our health.

https://www.dochitect.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/article-audio-44186.mp3

Read the full article.

Commentaries

AdvantAge Ontario: Designing the Long-Term Care Home for COVID and Beyond

August 31, 2020 / Dochitect / Design for Geriatrics, Design for Infection Control, Design for Resiliency

Webinar

Webinar Title: Designing the Long-Term Care Home for COVID and Beyond
Webinar Date: August 31, 2020
Organization: AdvantAge Ontario

Monday, August 31, 2020 | 2:00pm – 4:00pm 

AdvantAge Ontario is the association of not-for-profit long term care, housing, and services for seniors: “We’ve seen through the pandemic how a long-term care home’s design can acutely influence its ability to prevent and respond to infection outbreaks. But design also affects many other important elements of LTC living. Whether you’re building new, redeveloping, or thinking about adaptations to your existing building, this webinar will equip you with essential knowledge and fresh ideas to consider as you plan. We’ll have a detailed discussion of current design standards and recent changes, what they could mean for your home, and the less understood role of mechanical engineering. Learn about the influence of design on infection control and alternative design approaches that also address other aspects of resident well-being, such as smaller clustered settings. Examples of the impact of design during the pandemic’s spring surge will be reviewed and the implications of provincial funding announcements will be discussed. Bring all your questions for the final part of this timely session.”

Click HERE to access the webinar recording.

Webinars

Fix Room 16! Designing Healthcare Facilities to be More Resilient & Equitable

May 28, 2020 / Dochitect / Design for Clinical Staff, Design for Infection Control, Design for Resiliency, Health Design & Ethics, The Physician-Architect Model

Presentations

Title: Fix Room 16! Designing Healthcare Facilities to be More Resilient & Equitable
Podcast: Design is Everywhere, Design Museum
Date: May 28, 2020

This is one of the main reasons we’re quarantined, not just to keep ourselves safe from the virus but also to “flatten the curve,” and help our hospitals keep up with a growing number of cases. On this episode we talk about how hospitals are designing solutions for surge capacity and what lessons there are for the future of hospital architecture. Those lessons could be very important as we may see new spikes in COVID-19 and as we must adapt facilities to be equitable for all patients, healthcare workers, and staff. We’re joined by Dr. Diana Anderson, a doctor architect, or Dochitect, currently a geriatric medicine fellow at the University of California, San Francisco; and Dr. Esther Choo, she’s an emergency medicine physician and health services researcher based in Portland, Oregon at Oregon Health & Science University, and she’s the chief medical advisor for a startup called Jupe, which is creating pop-up medical facilities. Plus our weekly dose of good design.

Dochitect co-hosts the Design is Everywhere podcast! Listen HERE.

Podcasts

Covid-19: pandemic healthcare centres should have already existed

April 30, 2020 / Dochitect / Design for Infection Control, Design for Resiliency, Health Design & Ethics, The Physician-Architect Model

Letters to the Editor

Publication: BMJ, Letters to the Editor
Publication Date: April 30, 2020
Authors: Neel Sharma & Diana Anderson
View Letter

Covid-19: pandemic healthcare centres should have already existed

Excerpt: Too little too late are the words being uttered by medical professionals in both the UK and US at the rising numbers of confirmed covid-19 cases and deaths.1 Healthcare architects and engineers support these sentiments given the frantic scramble for adaptive reuse of existing spaces to deliver care.1 Knowing weeks in advance of the global spread of this virus did little to spark momentum in the US and UK health systems to prepare early for what lay ahead.

Read the Letter HERE

Letters to the Editor

A Book from Dochitect

The Dochitect’s Journal: A collection of writings on the intersection of Medicine and Architecture

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