

The design of the immediate area around a patient bed area can have a significant impact on the healing and overall experience of that patient. As appropriate to each facility, this type of integrated artwork can also be incorporated into way-finding elements, used to delineate space, define task-specific communities, or identify the functionality of specific areas. Further, artwork and imagery is often incorporated as part of the building interior systems, meaning that it’s become much more than simply hanging pictures on a wall. As a result, artwork and images of nature are increasingly calzzled upon by those who recognize this in order to soften and personalize what can otherwise be seen as a sterile and/or stressful environment. These include a reduction in the length of patient stays by facilitating faster healing and creating a restorative space for patients, families and staff. One such area of research has repeatedly shown that integrating art, nature and beauty into hospital environments can have very beneficial results. Design professionals can adopt this approach by being aware of relevant work that demonstrates how healthcare facility design impacts the people that use those facilities. Those who keep up on the latest studies and lessons learned, can adjust their daily practices to match the proven outcomes found in the research. Healthcare professionals are very familiar with the term “evidence based practice” where evidence refers to research studies and practice refers to what is done day to day. Several trends have been observed recently that are worth noting. The design of healthcare environments has always been influenced by many factors and has necessarily responded and evolved based on those factors. Understanding and incorporating these available options can provide huge benefits that save time, money and frustration while yielding superior results in terms of creative design, humanized aesthetics, and long-term performance.
#Beneath a steel sky uhs full
To meet these diverse goals, a full spectrum of integrated design, material, and system solutions have become available from a range of product manufacturers. Of course, all of these design elements need to meet the durability, sanitation, and cleaning requirements of healthcare facilities of all types and in fact they can. Bathroom and shower areas are treated as design components that can present themselves artfully and function optimally. Patient bed areas are being treated in all respects to make them more pleasant and user-friendly. Natural daylight is being brought to more interior spaces without sacrificing privacy or durability. Interior wall surfaces are coming to be seen as a design medium to introduce color, form, pattern, and art in the interest of humanizing the spaces. That is changing for the better and the heretofore stereotypical image of drab, institutional healthcare spaces is giving way to architects and designers who are increasingly creating beautiful, nurturing, and functional healthcare environments, even within tight timelines and budgets. Too often in the past, the spaces that were built for those purposes used planning and design that focused on function and utility rather than the total interior environment.

Healthcare environments are intended for nurturing people and serving human needs.
