Filling the Void

by: Brian Giebink, Kimberly McMurray and Mary Therese Hankinson | This article was originally published in Healthcare Design.

Collaboration on a behavioral health room mock-up is creating new resources to inform design going forward

Growing awareness of the importance of behavioral healthcare is renewing focus on the design of inpatient psychiatric facilities, with the goal to provide welcoming, relaxing, safe environments that put patients at ease and help them be receptive to their treatment. However, according to leading researchers in the field of health environment design, evidence on the subject isn’t sufficient to influence the design of such spaces.

The Institute for Patient-Centered Design (IPCD), a nonprofit organization dedicated to improving the built environment to better meet the needs of patients and their families, has been working to fill this void over the past several years.  In 2015,   IPCD held a design competition focusing on the behavioral healthcare inpatient bedroom and bathroom, for which three finalists presented their ideas using virtual reality during an educational session at the Healthcare Design Expo & Conference. Conference attendees then voted on the top design, selecting HDR’s “One Haven” project as the winner.

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