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Mental Health for All
Our webinar and workshop registrations, as well as website page visits and downloads, give us a unique insight into the issues that keep our community up at night and the types of projects that present the greatest challenges.
Hands down the top issue is designing for behavioral health – and it’s not even close.
In the spring, our Behavioral Health Webinar Day and our virtual Behavioral and Mental Health Design Workshop drew nearly 2500 registrations. Our Behavioral Health Design Toolkit is consistently one of the most visited resources on our website. Last fall’s in-person workshop in Minneapolis was a sell-out and I expect this year’s will be, too. And our newest Environment Network for Behavioral and Mental Health just launched and is on its way to full membership.
It's probably not all that surprising to you given the surging mental health and substance abuse crisis in this country. But what’s even more concerning is the ongoing gap in access to quality mental health care among minority populations.
According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Minority Health, in 2022, among adults with any mental illness, Hispanic (40%), Black (38%), and Asian (36%) adults were less likely than White adults (56%) to receive mental health services.
July is National Minority Mental Health Awareness Month, created to enhance public awareness of the unique strengths and mental health challenges that underrepresented and underserved communities of color face, and to promote effective strategies that eradicate stigma, break down barriers, and ensure equitable access to culturally responsive mental health support.
Design is one of the strategies with the proven potential to positively impact behavioral and mental health patient dignity, effective treatment, cultural sensitivity, and overall experience.
I hope that you will take every opportunity you can – through the Center’s programs and resources, as well as the HHS Minority Mental Health Awareness Month website – to inform yourself, your firm, your clients and project teams on this urgent topic.
Be Well,
Debra Levin, Hon. FASID, EDAC
President and CEO
P.S. Improved access and cultural sensitivity are just a couple of the many themes woven through the agenda of our upcoming seventh annual Behavioral and Mental Health Design Workshop, September 17 in Los Angeles. Attendance is limited and this program will sell out, so please learn more and register soon.
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WE INVITE YOU
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WEBINAR TODAY
Can’t make it? Register now and view at your convenience.
New Lighting Technology & Design Strategies that Improve Neuro Patient Care
July 11, 2024
10:00 AM PT / 1:00 PM ET
Affiliate Discounts Apply
CEUs Available
Inadequate or inappropriate lighting conditions can wreak havoc on neurological patients suffering from a wide range of disorders, conditions and injuries.
New lighting technologies and design strategies are producing significant benefits for patients sensitive to light and its intensity, or who experience limited exposure to natural daylight due to physical constraints or stages of recovery.
Using two different case studies, hear how designers can create tailored lighting solutions that foster patient healing.
Learn more and register.
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Virtual Workshop
Drivers in Healthcare: Perspectives and Conversations Influencing a New Healthcare Landscape
July 30, 2024
8:00 AM PT / 11:00 AM ET
FREE | CEUs Available
The healthcare facilities landscape is ever-evolving, and poses opportunities and challenges for those involved in their planning, design, construction and operation.
Through insightful presentations and panel discussions, expert faculty will explore key drivers that impact the care environment, and share the best and latest design solutions throughout all healthcare settings.
Thanks to our Sponsor Partners: AcornVac and Patcraft.
Learn more and register.
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Upcoming In-Person Workshop
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Behavioral and Mental Health: New Directions in Care and Design
of Environments to Support that Care
September 17, 2024
Los Angeles, CA
9:00 AM PT
CEUs Available
Affiliate Discounts Apply
The challenges created by today’s growing mental health and substance abuse crises reach far beyond the behavioral health unit into emergency departments, outpatient clinics and throughout acute care settings.
Join this in-person workshop to hear the latest in design thinking for behavioral healthcare and health settings while sharing state-of-the-art best practices through thought leader presentations, case studies, interactive group exercises and facilitated panel discussions.
Thanks to our Sponsor Partners: Accurate Lock & Hardware, Altro, architecture+, BestCare by Whitehall, ModuForm, Norix, Page/, Pineapple, Safehinge Primera, Spec, Stance Behavioral Health and Visa Lighting.
Advanced savings end tomorrow, July 12th at midnight.
Learn more and register here.
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Free Resources
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The Center for Health Design Job Board
The Center's Job Board is a resource for those seeking positions or prospective employees in healthcare architecture, design, facility planning or other related fields. Browse what is currently needed by companies or organizations that support our mission of improving the quality of healthcare.
Browse current listings.
Slidecast: Optimizing Floor Plans of Accessible Restrooms in Elderly Long-term Care Facilities
To avoid excessively disabling an entire population of mobility aid users as well as decrease excessive dependency on caregivers, restroom design has to be optimized. This study explores how mobility path-planning simulation software can increase the convenience of restroom use for individuals who use wheelchairs and walkers.
Watch the slidecast.
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Opportunities
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Now Accepting 2025 Touchstone Award Submissions
If you and your team have employed the evidence-based design process in a healthcare project (built or conceptual) or product of any type, we encourage you to apply for a 2025 Touchstone Award.
Recipients will be honored at The Center's Award Ceremony at the 2025 PDC Summit in Atlanta; receive feature coverage in Health Facilities Management Magazine; and gain exposure throughout the year to The Center's 30,000+ global community AND, starting this year, to the American Society for Health Care Engineering community of 12,000+ healthcare provider and facilities professionals.
Learn how to apply for a Touchstone Award.
P.S. Use the code TOUCH10 when you purchase the Application Fee from our site and receive 10% off your total at checkout. (Not combinable with other discounts; greatest discount will be automatically applied at checkout.)
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Lighting and Wayfinding: Keys to Senior Independence
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Growing old can be considered a gift to have in one’s life, but it doesn’t always feel that way. Your hair gets gray, your bones ache and one day you realize you really shouldn’t be driving at night anymore. So many changes are happening at once that when it comes time to be moved to a senior living community, it can truly disrupt someone’s life. That’s why more and more facilities are trying to ease this transition by making design elements, like wayfinding, more familiar to residents.
Healthcare Facilities Today, read more...
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Evidence-based Information Supports Clinician Experience
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Integrating evidence-based information into the EHR is key to managing the daunting amount of information healthcare professionals face today. Clinicians navigate an overwhelming amount of information across care settings. When the electronic health record (EHR) properly leverages an evidence-based approach to streamline this information, it can support improved outcomes, more efficient cross-team coordination, and a healthier clinician experience.
Wolters Kluwer, read more...
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Healthcare Lighting that Reshapes the Patient Experience
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Lighting plays a crucial role in shaping the patient experience in healthcare settings. It can influence a patient’s mood, comfort level and overall sense of well-being. Harsh, bright lighting can create a sterile and unwelcoming atmosphere, which can be particularly unsettling for patients already feeling vulnerable. On the other hand, soft, warm lighting can create a more inviting and calming environment. By carefully considering the lighting design in healthcare facilities, architects and designers can create spaces that promote healing and comfort.
Medical Construction & Design Magazine, read more...
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Design Hacks Can Reduce Stress in the Operating Room
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Stress among health care workers is a common malady. And that stress can negatively affect performance in high-pressure environments such as operating rooms (ORs). There is good news, however, and that’s because recognizing and addressing the distinct requirements concerning spatial layout and then incorporating these considerations into the design of ORs can help reduce stress, according to a recent study published in the Health Environments Research & Design Journal.
HFM Magazine, read more...
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Contact our VP Relationship Development Randy Carter, rcarter@healthdesign.org, (541) 965-1922.
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ABOUT US
For over 30 years the non-profit Center for Health Design has led and empowered current and future healthcare owners, clinicians, architects, designers, product & solution providers and other stakeholders in an industry-wide endeavor to maximize health through informed design.
By providing research, education and community-building to over 30,000 professionals worldwide, The Center drives measurable improvements in health, safety and business outcomes through evidence-based design of the built environment. Explore The Center’s resources, tools and learning opportunities at www.healthdesign.org.
© 2024 The Center for Health Design
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