Insights & Solutions

Shultz, J., Borkenhagen, D., Rose, E., Gribbons, B., Rusak-Gillrie, H., Fleck, S., Muniak, A., Filer, J. (2020). Health Environments Research & Design Journal. DOI: 10.1177/1937586719855777

By placing health and wellness at the center of design, construction, technology and programming decisions, Delos is transforming our indoor environments into spaces that actively contribute to human health and well-being. Paul shares how the current crisis is moving beyond political boundaries. “At the end of the day,” Paul shares, “The broader notion of wellness real estate--if we can use our buildings, our homes, our offices, our schools, our hotels, and our senior and assisted living facilities as a way to, constantly and passively, deliver preventative medical intentions through four walls and a roof, there is not one political mind in the world that will have a problem with that.” Paul also discusses Delos’s new Facilities Improvement Program and how it can help our most vulnerable population in this pandemic---our older adults in senior living communities and facilities.

This webinar will share the results of this unique research project, tell their stories and first hand perspectives, and uncover what is working and what is not in various care environments. Through this alternative vision, attendees will benefit from these researchers’ findings and insights as they consider the design of environments for this significant group of elders. 

Van Heuvelen, J.S. (2019). Isolation or Interaction: Healthcare Provider Experience of Design Change. Sociology of Health & Illness, 41(4), 692-708.  

Where policy-based changes can be more easily ignored, the physical change of the environment forces every member of the team to confront new institutional belief systems while simultaneously learning all the new work routines. We need to understand that physical environments are a dynamic force that influence organizational culture.

In this podcast, Sara Marberry discusses the short-and long-term effects of the current crisis on the healthcare design industry. Sara shares, “A halt on projects in the short term is not necessarily a bad thing.

To provide an “oasis” for patients and their families with an emphasis on wellness, safety and security while being warm, inviting, and comforting. To build the operating delivery model, partnering with other community providers, focusing on a “full service” outpatient continuum of care across sites (physician office, emergency room, hospital ambulatory, hospital inpatient, home care, community ambulatory care) and across levels of service (primary care management, specialty consultation and treatment and chronic care management).

To create a research study similar to those used in healthcare settings to evaluate the impact of the new canine housing habitat model. To understand the impact of the designed environment on staff, volunteers and the dogs who are housed there.

The goal was to embellish nature’s restorative qualities with the benefits of this resort’s spa, both in the services provided and in the designed environment in which these services are delivered.

The mission of the Zoo’s veterinary center is: “we are a window for the world to witness compassionate veterinary care and collaborative research to conserve all species." In order to achieve this, the goal was to meld the natural world with the manmade world.