Some environmental research is meant primarily for internal use by the design firm or health care system. Other research has a broader goal of influencing design across a broad array of health care settings.
The Grab Bar Specifications research project that was recently awarded a Platinum Touchstone award fits this latter category. This project reflects the deepest goals of evidence-based design practices.
It reflects the coordinated and on-going efforts of a team of individuals to advance it from its initial stage -- as an AIA Design for Aging Knowledge Community white paper to push for revisions to the Americans’ with Disabilities Act – to a two-phase, comparative analysis study of elders living in nursing homes, and then to efforts to get the results included in revised codes and guidelines.
Experts
Dr. Calkins is nationally recognized as a creative, dynamic leader, trainer and researcher in the field of environments for elders. She is Board Chair of IDEAS Institute, an independent research institute dedicated to exploring the therapeutic potential of the environment--social and organizational as well as physical--particularly as it relates to frail and impaired older adults. She is a highly sought after speaker for conferences in the US and abroad. She has published extensively and received over $6m in grant funding from the National Institutes of Health and foundations to develop training resources and explore the impact of the environment on people with dementia. She has served on numerous board, both local and national, including the Pioneer Network, Green House, Advancing Excellence, and the Cleveland Chapter of the Alzheimer’s Association. She was a founding member of SAGE- Society for the Advancement of Gerontological Environments, and is on the Editorial Board for The Gerontologist, Journal of Housing and the Elderly, Journal of Clinical Psychology and Health Environments Research & Design Journal among other journals.