What is Healthy Design? Healthy design assists the Patient and the Patient’s Carers, Supporters and Medial Staff, to remain positive and focussed on the Patient’s Medical Journey, either through recovery and rehab, or, to assist the patient and the family to transition through the medical issue as comfortably as possible. Why is Healthy Design important? The most important part of a person’s recovery ability is a patient’s own body. The patient’s body must fight off the disease, recover from the injury, recover from the surgery or treatment, adapt to the new physical situation, or adapt to any impairment; primarily it is the patient’s mindset that must retain the focus on the recovery process in order for it to be effective. Therefore, managing the patient’s experience through the medical pathway, in a way that maintains a positive mindset, will maximise the effectiveness of the treatment and provide the best chance for a return to health and recovery. A patient who understands the diagnosis, the purpose of the medical intervention, and the pathway for recovery (which can include for prescriptions and rehabilitative care), can better follow this pathway and improve their chance for a natural recovery.
The clinical process at a Hospital is vitally important to the function of the hospital. This aspect of Hospital Design is vitally important to the effective deployment of the clinical service; as such design for these components need to focus on enabling and enhancing the performance and integration of the medical teams. Staff wellness is also a critical component in hospital design; happy, well managed, satisfied and positive staff will communicate those emotions to patients and further assist with the patient’s feeling of security and positive about the medical journey about to be undertaken or already underway. Salutogenic Design Factors Psychosocially supportive design stimulates and engages people, both mentally and socially, and supports an individual’s sense of coherence. The basic function of psychosocially supportive design is to start a mental process by attracting human attention, which may reduce anxiety and promote positive psychological emotions. Health processes could be strengthened and promoted by implementing design focuses on the factors that keep us well, rather than those that make us unwell. The aim of Salutogenic Design is to create an environment that stimulates the mind in order to create pleasure, creativity, satisfaction and enjoyment. There is an important relationship between an individual’s health and the characteristics of the physical environment.
However, from the Patient Journey perspective, there seems to be a distinct lack of focus on salutogenic factors when designing modern hospitals. In fact, it would appear that these factors are almost ignored and hospital designs are delivered in spite of what we know about salutogenics, the patient experience, and contemporary psychological insights about design. Instead, modern Hospitals can be disorienting, alienating, and uncomfortable, and at times, staff can be overworked, abrupt in manner and disconnected from the patient’s medical journey. The design of the space within which these interactions occur, can set the tone for and characterise the nature, meaning and experience of those interactions. Hospitals need not take all the blame however, it seems a function of modern Architecture that wellness factors are ignored in favour of efficiency of service or of construction. An example is the modern workplace; despite it being a place whre we can spend a third or more of our waking lives, these office spaces are often unfriendly, uncomfortable, alienating, and do very little to encourage positive interaction amongst staff. For a compact, modern hospital wayfinding can become very problematic for staff, patients and visitors alike. A lack of daylight or clear orientation factors, where corridors and spaces all look more or less the same, can contribute to the feeling of disorientation and anxiety felt by patients.
Overall, Patients and patient carers who can understand and better integrate with the clinical and rehabilitative process, are going to have a better chance for recovery, and will recover more quickly.
What are some of the impacts of ignoring Salutogenic Design?
For patients where a diagnosis suggests recovery is not possible, this is an important time for that patient’s family and friends and managing this carefully and in a caring and supportive way, will assist the family and friends to transition through the loss of the person.
In the first instance, patients who feel confused or confronted may exhibit a range of emotions that make treatment and communication between patient, family and staff more difficult. Patients with heightened anxiety may not properly understand the diagnosis or treatment.
What factors contribute to Healthy Design?
Are Hospitals Healthy?
Patient management is key. The way in which the patient interacts with the Doctor, the way in which the patient comes to understand the diagnosis, the way in which the patient’s family and friends are included to the process, the way in which staff interact with the patient, all contribute to a positive psychological setting for the patient journey.
Modern hospitals do remarkably well to understand and deliver the clinical service efficiently, ensure services are appropriately clustered, provide appropriately serviced and equipped functional areas, limit chance for cross infection, integrate with loading and servicing requirements, At times, modern hospitals are beginning to provide a small village feel, or a public street, usually as part of the entry foyer accessible for visitors and staff, or patients with less acute issues.
Family and friends may not be able to provide the care and support required, and there may be issues of stress and anxiety that can turn to conflict or aggression. If this occurs, it is more than likely that it is the hospital staff who will feel the burden of this anxiety. Staff who are under duress may themselves be prone to anxiety, or be more likely to make mistakes. Mistakes in a medical setting can have very significant impacts.