Health Care Design Ideas That Are Improving Quality of Life

Updated January 24, 2015.

There have been some new design ideas that have improved the quality of life for many patients. Sometimes, it's not a new "product" that makes life better, but simply a new way of looking at things and redesigning how they work, that brings the improvement.

Here are some of the key design changes that have caught in recently and are making life better.

Senior Care

The senior population continues to grow and that pressure has spurred new ways of serving this age group.

They have specific and distinct needs and wants compared to younger adults, and certainly children, so long term care and assisted living residences, and hospitals, have made changes to respond to them.

Here are some ways hospitals have redesigned their services to provide better care to seniors.

• Design Tips for Planning A Senior Care Unit
• Medical Supply Planning for the Senior Care Unit
• 10 Ideas for Higher Satisfaction Scores When Planning Your Senior Care Unit
  
• Senior Care for Home, Hospital, and Assisted Living
  
• Medical Supplies for the Long-Term Care Resident
  
• Senior Care Unit Redesign of Flooring Materials, and Why
  
• The Benefits of Private Hospital Rooms for Seniors
  
• How to Keep Nursing Staff in the Patient's Room Longer for Better Care
  
• Safety Features Designed Into Senior Care Unit Hospital Rooms
  
• Bathroom Safety Design for the Senior Care Hospital Room
  
• Hospital Design Changes For Closer Patient Monitoring
  
• Furniture Design for Senior Care, Healing, and Safety
  
• How to Design the Finishing Touches into a Senior Care Unit
  

Design Ideas for Exam and Consult Rooms

Learn more about the best practices for health care design of exam rooms, waiting rooms, and consult rooms that work better for the staff and the patients. Sometimes small, inexpensive adjustments can have big impacts on satisfaction and quality of care.

• Design Tips for the Exam - Consult - Office Hybrid
  
• Turn Your Waiting Room into a 5S Showcase
  
• Efficiency, Ergonomics, and Aesthetics: Designing Lean into the Point-of-Care
  
• Repel Germs 24/7 with Furniture
  
• The Benefits of Floor Space in Healthcare Design
  
• 2 Ways Architects and Designers Can Improve Patient Care
  
• Design Solutions for the Veterans Administration Hospitals
  

 

Incorporating the Right Materials and Products for Safer Health Care Design

Materials matter. Sometimes design changes mean using materials that can serve a purpose just because of their properties. For example, incorporating more copper materials into architectural details like doorknobs, drawer handles, even entire sinks, or into parts of products like IV poles or bed rails, can reduce the spread of infection thanks to copper's inherent antimicrobial properties.

•  Fight Healthcare Acquired Infections with Antimicrobial Copper Sinks
• Antimicrobial Copper Products for Medical Supplies and Equipment
  
• Ronald McDonald, Copper, and the War on Infection
  
• Where Else Can Copper Aid in Healthcare Design and Construction?
  
• 5 Ways Hospitals Can Make Their Patient Rooms Safer
  
• Designing for Noise, Sound, and Acoustics
  

All of these ideas have started to inform health care design. Better material choices that can kill germs on contact.  Medical supply solutions at the point of care are easier for the staff to reach, to use, and to keep clean. And recognizing that different age groups have different needs, wants, and concerns, and then designing your health care delivery space to respond to those difference, is making a noticeable improvement in medical outcomes, and patient, family, and staff satisfaction.