A Breath of Fresh Air for Health Care

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This story by Allison Arieff, about Kaiser Permanente's approach to humanizing hospital design is a welcome contrast to most stories coming from the health care front. Excerpt:

Though hospitals will end up looking better, these efforts aren’t about decorating, they’re about outcomes. Numerous studies point to the benefits of the design strategies and environmental interventions KP has proposed and implemented. Factors like the quality and intensity of light, access to natural light, the noise level in a room, the privacy afforded by single-patient rooms — all of these affect patient health, satisfaction, soundness of sleep and speed of healing. Views of nature have been shown to decrease depression, pain, stress and even length of hospital stays. Floor plans that are designed to help health care workers do their work more effectively (as well as increase privacy and comfort of patients) can reduce falls, improve patient communication and lessen stress for all.

 

I can’t help thinking of the enormous opportunity for other large corporations and institutions to take a cue from Kaiser’s efforts. There is no reason why schools and banks, as well as major homebuilders and office, hospitality and retail developers can’t make similar demands of their vendors and contractors. Wal-Mart, for example, has mandated the goals of using only renewable energy, producing zero waste and selling only sustainable products (now, if they’d only provide Kaiser-like health care for all employees). Why aren’t builders demanding that makers of vinyl siding develop a more sustainable alternative? Or require that buildings generate some percentage of their own electricity from alternative energy? Why not save money, heal the planet and improve quality of life for workers, residents, students and customers?

 

Kaiser has made a commitment to share their research, from process to product, for free. As Denton says, “We are intent on sharing everything that we do. We’re doing it for the benefit of everyone in health care. We are trying to make human-centered design and designing for emotions as meaningful for the patient as possible and as doable for health care organizations as possible.”

 

That others might take notice — finally — might help steer us all toward thriving rather than just surviving.