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Dochitect in the News

Better Design, Healthier Patients?

January 27, 2017 / Dochitect / Dochitect in the News

In the News

Publication: UofT MedAlumni e-newsletter
Date: January 27, 2017

Dochitect was interviewed by the University of Toronto’s Faculty of Medicine Alumni e-newsletter in response to the question- “what needs to change in medicine today?”

Excerpt: 

I believe we need to put more focus on the importance of architectural design in health care — and on researching the elements and impact of our built environment.Here are just several examples of the pressing questions facing the field:

  • While some countries design village-like settings for dementia populations to encourage wandering, others utilize dark flooring materials that some patients with cognitive disorders may interpret as a void, thus deterring exit attempts. Which is best — not only from the perspective of clinical outcomes, but also from an economic standpoint?
  • Hospital corridors are already dynamic spaces of patient physical therapy, multidisciplinary team updates, family discussions and infection-control practices. Can a hospital corridor become more than a long narrow space with equipment spilling over and laundry bins scattered throughout?
  • The notion of separating patient and staff circulation has become best practice in health-care design over recent years. With health care moving in the direction of the patient becoming the advocate of their own care and clinicians providing the expertise to aid patients in their decision-making, should the physical design separate what the clinical model is trying to unify?
  • While design guidelines for health-care spaces have now set standards for patients to gain exposure to natural light, spaces reserved for clinicians have no such minimum requirements, despite these caregivers spending countless hours within health-care spaces. Should this change?

Click here to read the full interview.

The right moves: Resilience, relevance and reach see architects through the recession

November 17, 2016 / Dochitect / Dochitect in the News

In the News

Publication: Irish Independent (Independent.ie)
Date: November 17, 2016
Author: Paul McNeive

Dochitect is mentioned in the Irish Independent newspaper!

Excerpt: Carole Pollard, President of The Royal Institute of the Architects of Ireland (RIAI) says that “architects need to shout louder about their relevance to the built environment”, noting that the quality of our built environment can greatly improve people’s lives. She referenced an interesting study by Diana Anderson, a doctor and architect who has established that hospital patients in rooms with windows have better outcomes than those without. This is due to the more natural circadian rhythms but also because staff check on patients with windows more frequently, as they prefer being in those rooms.

Click here to read the full article.

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Remodeling Healthcare through Architecture

November 15, 2016 / Dochitect / Dochitect in the News

In the News

Publication: Doctors Who Create
Date: July 28 2016; November 15, 2016

Dochitect was interviewed by Doctors Who Create about the path towards a hybrid career model. stethoscope-01

Excerpt: What does the term “dochitect” mean for you?

Dr. Anderson: The dochitect serves to bridge the gap between architecture and medicine. There is a quote from the Dutch architect, Herman Hertzberger that states, “The architect is like the physician…he must see to it that what he does makes everyone feel better.” The dochitect is able to see from a different perspective and able to bring both knowledge sets together and promote innovation.

Click here to read the full interview.

A Dochitect’s Story was also profiled on the Doctors Who Create website!

Click here to view the posting.

Read more about the community of Doctors Who Create (DWC) who aim to change the culture of medicine to encourage and reward creativity.

Virtual Skies in Hospital Rooms to Reduce Stress

July 6, 2016 / Dochitect / Dochitect in the News

In the News

Publication: MedicalExpo e-magazine
Date: July 6, 2016
Author: Howard Wolinsky
View article

virtual-window Excerpt: Dr. Diana Anderson, an architect and physician who practices hospital architecture at Stantec Architecture in New York City, said research documents that lighting in medical settings positively affects the physical and emotional well-being of both patients and medical staff.

“Views and images, either real or virtual, should be considered just as important for the clinical staff to access as they are for patients,” she said. “Some rooms will always be windowless in a design. It is inevitable. So how can we change the experience of being in one of them?”

In this article, Dochitect comments on virtual windows for patients, visitors and healthcare staff.

Judge – European Healthcare Design Awards 2016

June 28, 2016 / Dochitect / Dochitect in the News

In The News

Organization: SALUS – European Healthcare Design
Event: Healthcare Design Awards
Location:
Royal College of Physicians, London, UK
Date:
June 28, 2016

Dochitect was invited as a Judge for the 2016 European Healthcare Design Awards.

Category: Healthcare Design Projects (Over 25,000 sqm)
Judges: Simona Agger, European Health Property Network, Italy; Trisha Down, Southmead Hospital, UK; Diana Anderson, Stantec, USA

Winner: Alder Hey Children’s Hospital
Commissioned by Alder Hey Children’s NHS Foundation Trust
Designed by BDP
Civil and structural engineering by WSP | Parsons Brinckerhoff
Environmental engineering by Hoare Lea

Highly commended: Akershus University Hospital
Commissioned by Helse Sør-Øst RHF
Designed by C.F. Møller Architects

Highly commended: Ng Teng Fong General Hospital and Jurong Community Hospital
Commissioned by Ministry of Health, Singapore, and Jurong Health Services
Designed by CPG Consultants in collaboration with HOK and Studio 505

Dochitect also had the opportunity to speak on Critical Care Design at the European Healthcare Design event. Click here for a review of the presentation.

Clinique médicale – savoir aménager la clinique d’aujourd’hui… pour mieux y travailler demain

June 26, 2016 / Dochitect / Dochitect in the News

In the News

Publication: Le Médecin du Québec.org
Date: June 26, 2016
Author: Claudine Hebert
View article

hard-hatExcerpt: “Quand la Dochitect® s’en mêle: Bien qu’il n’existe aucune formule, aucune norme officielle à suivre en matière d’aménagement de clinique médicale, la Dre Diana Anderson, une Montréalaise d’origine établie à New York, souhaite faire évoluer les choses des deux côtés de la frontière canado-américaine. « Il est temps que les médecins et les architectes collaborent étroitement pour créer de meilleurs environnements de santé pour les patients et le personnel », indique-t-elle.”

In this article, Dochitect comments on the design of clinic space, in particular the need for collaboration between clinicians and architects during design, the changing nature of patient care with a focus on complex chronic diseases, and the need for flexibility and adaptability of ambulatory spaces with the incorporation of new and ever-advancing technologies.

Click here to view the complete article on medical clinic design.

Jury Chair – 2016 RIAI Universal Design Awards

May 30, 2016 / Dochitect / Dochitect in the News

In The News

Organization: Centre for Excellence in Universal Design (CEUD), Royal Institute of the Architects of Ireland (RIAI)
Event: RIAI Universal Design Awards
Location:
Dublin, Ireland
Date:
Jury Chair May 2016, Awards Ceremony June 2016

Universal Design is the design and composition of an environment so that it can be accessed, understood and used to the greatest extent possible by all people regardless of their age, size, ability or disability.

In 2013, the Centre for Excellence in Universal Design supported the Royal Institute of the Architects of Ireland (RIAI) to launch a Universal Design category as part of their annual architecture awards. The aim of the award is to promote excellence in Universal Design among the architectural profession in Ireland. As part of its support for the award, the CEUD invites an international architect to chair the jury for the award and to present a lecture related to Universal Design to RIAI members.

Dochitect was invited as the Jury Chair for the 2016 RIAI Universal Design Awards, and in addition presented a lecture on Universal Design for Healthcare.

Dr Anderson Invitation 200416 V2

Moderator for Healthcare Construction Forum

March 16, 2016 / Dochitect / Dochitect in the News

In The News

Organization: Professional Women in Construction – New York Chapter
Event: Healthcare Construction Forum
Location:
Steelcase showroom, New York City
Date:
March 15, 2016
View event flyer

Moderated by:
Diana Anderson, MD, MArch, Medical Planner, Stantec Architecture

Panelists: Tile Microphone PWC
Donna Ryan-Rose, Director, Strategic Projects, Northwell
Neil Halpern, MD, MCCM, FACP, FCCP, Chief of Critical Care Medicine,  Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center
Christina DeRose, Director of Leasing and Space Management, Weill Cornell Medicine
Thomas Ahn, VP, Real Estate Division, Mount Sinai Health System
Tracy Nichols, Healthcare Manager, Steelcase Health

 

Panel shot with crowd

 

 

Problem-solving through a double-barreled career

July 8, 2015 / Dochitect / Dochitect in the News

In the News

Publication: LeadDoc – The Online Journal for Emerging Physician Leaders
Date: July 8, 2015
Author: Hannah O. Brown
View article

LeadDoc Story Screenshot2Dochitect is interviewed for LeadDoc – The Online Journal for Emerging Physician Leaders – and comments on the hybrid medicine-architecture model and career journey.

Read the interview on the Physician Leadership Library site (account required).

 

 

Making Healthcare Environments Safer for Seniors

February 2, 2015 / Dochitect / Dochitect in the News

In The News

Publication: Modern Healthcare Magazine
Date: February 2, 2015
Author: Howard Wolinsky
View article (subscription required)

2-2-15 Cover.inddExcerpt: It’s an inevitable part of aging. By age 75, our eyes respond more slowly to the glaring lights of a hospital. We perceive the shiny, well-buffed floors as slippery, causing missteps and falls. Our skin is thinner, making us more vulnerable to pressure sores from rock-hard mattresses. We chill more easily. The noise from monitors and other gadgets in an acute care room or emergency department can interfere with our ability to communicate with medical staff. As a result, older patients may find they are navigating a minefield in hospitals and other medical facilities that have been designed to be friendly to healthcare workers but not seniors.

“The hospital can be a hazardous place for anyone, but particularly for the elderly,” said Dr. Diana Anderson, a trained architect who is completing her internal medicine residency at New York-Presbyterian Hospital. “Hospitalization is one of the major risk factors for older people. We can end up seeing irreversible decline in their functional status after they’re admitted. This decline cannot always be attributed to a progression of their presenting medical problem.” Anderson, who plans to enter a geriatrics fellowship this year, has coined and trademarked the term “dochitect,” for the type of medicine she hopes to practice. She is the rare person who combines medical knowledge with know-how about how to design health facilities. She sees a need to use this combination of expertise to make healthcare environments safer and more comfortable for the elderly.

Dochitect is interviewed about geriatric design and making healthcare environments safer for seniors. View article (subscription required).

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Recent Articles/Publications

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