Next generation hospital design for seniors

While Australia is on the right track when it comes to future hospital design, more needs to be done in the design phases to ensure the country can meet the projected increase in healthcare use.

Spaces are getting bigger which means buildings are getting bigger, People are getting older and staff shortages are on the way. It will be these types of facilities that will be very difficult to operate and manage in the future.

I believe we can do a lot more in our healthcare projects to provide sustainable built environments which are adequate for the next generation of healthcare facilities.

Here, I explore the biggest challenges facing health facilities design and development, and the core design features and project strategies that are needed to design a next generation hospital for the future.

Rising to the challenge: meeting needs of an ageing population

In Australia there is a big push to develop additional health facilities to cater for the projected increase in healthcare use. Facilities are being madly built for future use regardless of age care, acute care, mental healthcare and longer complex conditions.

In Australia the facility briefs have been developed in isolation of the architect and as a result architects have very limited opportunities to influence the development of future healthcare facilities.

Australia is getting to the point where everybody is getting older, the buildings are getting bigger, the corridors are getting longer and we have limited staff. As a result, we’re going to end up with patients who are not mobile and are unable to move long distances, we’re going to have staff traveling longer distances due to the hospital design – which means they’ll be spending more time in the corridors and less time with patients.

We’ve created mega-hospitals which are essentially going to become extremely expensive, inefficient to run and very difficult to manage in the future. We can do more in our projects to provide sustainable built environments that are flexible, adaptable and adequate for the next generation of healthcare.

To build and design hospitals for the future we must consider three things, first-the ever changing technology, second-societies perception of what healthcare should deliver.

One of the biggest challenges I’ve faced so far in my career is ensuring people understand about the different options and opportunities that are available when it comes to future healthcare design. Clients need to own their vision; they need to be a part of the journey apart of the process. It’s important that from the very beginning there is collaborative approach to the development and design of the project. This type of approach always ensures a successful outcome for everyone.

Elements to consider when building a next generation health facility

Technology is revolutionising healthcare as we know it. We need to leverage technology to reduce the building footprint and create sustainable building maps to ensure our hospitals are adaptable for the future.

A big challenge facing many project teams is final budgeting. This often results in departmental barriers and prohibits collaborative environments, as well as the sharing of expensive spaces and technology.

Optimising the patient flow and journey is critical to designing and building a next generation hospital – for example eliminating replication and over processing. Electronic Medical Records (EMRs) are a step in the right direction, but a hospital needs to have a consolidated information platform that all users (doctors, patients, and staff) can access. It’s comes down to a bigger focus on sharing knowledge and translating that knowledge to providing better care.

New care in the future requires a more balanced approach between acute hospitals, community care and home care. Home care is on the rise as the population continues to age and increase.

Stakeholder engagement

The best designed hospitals start with a fully collaborative process from the very early stages of the project life cycle – including all stakeholders, design teams, contractors and users in the process.

In addition having a design process where the contractor is involved from the very beginning allows processes to be streamlined, project risk to be reduced and provides a competent construction cost. This will ultimately speed the delivery of the facility and will ultimately save money.

Design quick wins: building a hospital that doesn’t cost a fortune

Good design doesn’t have to cost a fortune and anything that can be included in base design building costs can be classified as a design ‘win,’ because it doesn’t cost a lot for a great design.

In the future, it will all be about separation of flow, shared synergies, collaborative spaces and intuitive way finding. Movement through space, form, and volume designed to reduce stress – a hierarchy of space people can intuitively know they’re in the right place and shared support spaces to encourage collaborative working environments.

Another area to provide ‘quick wins’ is lighting. Lighting is an underutilised design tool – it can create ambience, reduce stress, highlight special places, provide visual contrast and depth to spaces and can simulate natural daylight. Lighting can either make or break your project. If the lighting concept is not looked after it can make a facility look institutional rather than inviting and comfortable. It’s a design area which not many pay much attention to – but it is a design necessity so there is no cost in doing it well.

And sometimes it’s the simplest design ideas that are the most memorable for patients, For example, great views. Good external views can aid in intuitive land marking and provide excellent orientation to help eliminate confusion.

Importance of social integration in future hospital design

Hospitals of the future are all about salutogenics, also known as the ‘causes of health’ including preventative, personalised and molecular medicine. A ‘whole’ approach to healthcare including mind, body and soul will be at the forefront of healthcare in the future.

New hospital designs require permeable access to create opportunities to integrate & educate the next generation of society. Facilities should be designed to be patient focused and built in a way to maximise patient empowerment, promote independence, self care and self management.

To learn more about the strategies needed to design, develop and build hospitals for the future, join Coleen Hart at Health Facilities Design and Development Victoria 2015 conference. Visit the conference website for more information, or phone (02) 9229 1000 or email enquire@iqpc.com.au.