Architecture as a Form of Care
Disciplines
Cognitive Psychology | Environmental Design | Interior Architecture | Other Architecture
Abstract (300 words maximum)
The emergency department (ED) is often internalized, cut off from the natural world, and structured around efficiency, despite its effect on patient health. It’s a critical healthcare setting where patients seek immediate medical attention for a wide range of conditions, often under circumstances of extreme stress and urgency. Efficient patient care within the ED is paramount to ensuring positive outcomes, yet the question remains: Can clinical efficiency prioritize the solicitude of people within an emergency department? With an increasing number of patients seeking care, the need for a hospital that responds to change without sacrificing patient and staff experience is at an all-time high. This thesis explores the complex relationship between clinical efficiency and patient/staff centered design. The primary objective is to understand how clinical efficiency and architectural design can work in tandem to create the emergency department of the future. This will be achieved through a series of semi-structured interviews, touring emergency departments in the Atlanta area and observing how they function from a clinical and architectural perspective, and literature and case studies to aid in a better understanding of today’s emergency department trends. At the end, a toolkit will be created for ways emergency departments in the U.S. can implement clinical efficiency techniques and architectural design for better patient and staff experience. This toolkit will be tested on the ED at Grady Memorial Hospital, the 5th largest public hospital in the United States and Atlanta’s only level 1 trauma center.
Keywords: Healthcare Architecture, Phenomenology, Patient Centered Design, Clinical Efficiency, Emergency Department Design
Academic department under which the project should be listed
CACM - Architecture
Primary Investigator (PI) Name
Pegah Zamani
Architecture as a Form of Care
The emergency department (ED) is often internalized, cut off from the natural world, and structured around efficiency, despite its effect on patient health. It’s a critical healthcare setting where patients seek immediate medical attention for a wide range of conditions, often under circumstances of extreme stress and urgency. Efficient patient care within the ED is paramount to ensuring positive outcomes, yet the question remains: Can clinical efficiency prioritize the solicitude of people within an emergency department? With an increasing number of patients seeking care, the need for a hospital that responds to change without sacrificing patient and staff experience is at an all-time high. This thesis explores the complex relationship between clinical efficiency and patient/staff centered design. The primary objective is to understand how clinical efficiency and architectural design can work in tandem to create the emergency department of the future. This will be achieved through a series of semi-structured interviews, touring emergency departments in the Atlanta area and observing how they function from a clinical and architectural perspective, and literature and case studies to aid in a better understanding of today’s emergency department trends. At the end, a toolkit will be created for ways emergency departments in the U.S. can implement clinical efficiency techniques and architectural design for better patient and staff experience. This toolkit will be tested on the ED at Grady Memorial Hospital, the 5th largest public hospital in the United States and Atlanta’s only level 1 trauma center.
Keywords: Healthcare Architecture, Phenomenology, Patient Centered Design, Clinical Efficiency, Emergency Department Design