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Evidence-Based Design

Using evidence based design to produce healthier hospital buildings

September 14, 2013 / Dochitect / Evidence-Based Design

Peer-Reviewed Publications

Publication: British Medical Journal (BMJ) Careers
Publication Date: September 14, 2013
Authors: D. Kirk Hamilton, BArch, MSOD; Diana C. Anderson, MD, MArch
View article

2013_BMJ COVER

Excerpt: Evidence about how architecture affects staff and patients is increasingly influencing the hospital design. Diana Anderson, a qualified architect and hospital doctor and Kirk Hamilton, an architect now working in academia after 30 years of practice, provide an international perspective on the issues involved.

Diana Anderson describes the personal experiences of poor hospital design:

I am a resident physician, and a large part of my hesitation in pursuing advanced clinical training was because of what I considered an intolerable hospital setting. Staff facilities are frequently without windows or art, and I have found myself desperately anticipating the first ray of sunlight after a long shift. Working in environments with constant noise from ventilator and infusion alarms, floor polishers, telephones, pagers, and staff discussions creates an ongoing battle to work effectively, or to hold private, often life changing discussions with patients.

During my initial time working in hospitals I often wondered whether anyone asked the clinicians about their opinions on the design and function of their work environments, and whether it has been recognised that the characteristics of the physical environment can enhance or hinder productivity, and can reduce the stress associated with our work and the condition of our patients. On my obstetrics rotation as a medical student the call rooms were located several floors above the labour and delivery unit, meaning we often missed deliveries, and so we learnt not to use the suite, and we slept in chairs closer to our patients. On patient units that did not provide space for respite, I found myself retreating to the supply rooms to gain composure during overwhelming moments. As a physician, a licensed architect, and a patient, I believe that many planned spaces are ill suited to their actual use.

Click here to view the full article on evidence-based design and healthier hospital buildings.

Peer-Reviewed Publications

Bridging the Gap: Multidisciplinary Collaboration in Medicine and Architecture

May 1, 2011 / Dochitect / Evidence-Based Design

Peer-Reviewed Publications

Publication: University of Toronto Medical Journal
Publication Reference: 2011;88(3):129-134.
Authors: Elizabeth Viets-Schmitz, AIA; Diana Anderson, MD, MArch.
View article

2011_UTMJ COVERAs 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.

Peer-Reviewed Publications

Humanizing the Hospital: Design Lessons from a Finnish Sanatorium

August 10, 2010 / Dochitect / Evidence-Based Design

Peer-Reviewed Publications

Publication: Canadian Medical Association Journal (CMAJ)
Publication Date: First published online Sept 21, 2009. In print August 10, 2010;182(11):E535-E537.
Author: Diana C. Anderson, MD, MArch
View article

As medicine has moved toward evidence-based practice, so too has hospital design, which is increasingly guided by research linking physical environments to health care outcomes through the process of evidence-based design. The Paimio Sanatorium, built in the early 1930s in the southwest portion of Finland and designed by the architect Alvar Aalto, demonstrates an appreciation for good design and the ambition to create healing environments that emulate nature.

Paimio ModelPrior to the development of evidence-based design, Alvar Aalto created a healing environment addressing each patient’s psychological and social needs. Just as the starting point in the Paimio Sanatorium design was the individual whose privacy and comfort were of central importance, the current field of evidence-based hospital design emulates this focus of the physical setting as therapeutic.

Read more about the Paimio Sanatorium and the features of its healing environment.

Yellow Corridor Peer-Reviewed Publications

Lessons from Evidence-Based Medicine: What Healthcare Designers Can Learn From the Medical Field

June 1, 2009 / Dochitect / Evidence-Based Design

Letter to the Editors

Publication: Health Environments Research & Design Journal
Publication Reference: 2009 Summer;2(4):130-1.
View letter


2009_HERD COVERThe theory paper by Viets entitled “Lessons from Evidence-Based Medicine: What Healthcare Designers Can Learn From the Medical Field,” advises that the field of medicine, like architecture, has faced many challenges in adopting an evidence-based approach.

Read dochitect’s letter to the editor in response to this article, which comments on the challenges faced in adopting an evidence-based approach, within both the medical and architectural fields.

Letters to the Editor

A View on the Room

February 4, 2009 / Dochitect / Evidence-Based Design

Letter to the Editor

Publication: Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA), Letter to the Editor
Publication Reference: 2009 Feb 4;301(5):486-7.

2009_JAMA COVERIn their JAMA commentary entitled “Single-patient rooms for safe patient-centered hospitals”, Drs Detsky and Etchells present an overview of the debate about single-patient rooms, confirming the current status of private rooms as the industry standard for new construction in the United States.

Dochitect responds to the article and comments on patient room types and design, noting that one room size may not fit all.

Read dochitect’s Letter to the Editor here. Copyright © 2009 American Medical Association.  All rights reserved.

Letters to the Editor

Designed for Discovery: The Terrence Donnelly Centre for Cellular and Biomolecular Research

July 31, 2007 / Dochitect / Evidence-Based Design

Peer-Reviewed Publications

Publication: Canadian Medical Association Journal
Publication Reference: 2007 Jul 31;177(3):272–273
Authors: Fiona Menzies, MSc; Diana Anderson, MD, MArch
View article

CCBR---Figure-1

The Terrence Donnelly Centre for Cellular and Biomolecular Research created an international buzz in the architectural community after receiving a prestigious Royal Institute of British Architects’ International Award, recognizing high architectural standards and contribution to the local environment. Located at the heart of the medical and health sciences district in the city of Toronto, this 2005 addition to the University of Toronto, was designed by Behnisch, Behnisch and Partner of Stuttgart, Germany, in collaboration with architectsAlliance of Toronto.

This research building sets a standard for the future of research facility design, and perhaps other medical buildings as well, as medical treatments involving multidisciplinary associations become increasingly important, both in research and clinical settings.

Read more about this design approach of incorporating architectural elements in order to promote discussion, collaboration and forward-thinking.

CCBR---Figure-2 Peer-Reviewed Publications
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