Rich, R. K., Jimenez, F. E., Puumala, S. E., DePaola, S., Harper, K., Roy, L., Brittin, J. (2020). From Fable to Reality at Parkland Hospital: The Impact of Evidence-Based Design Strategies on Patient Safety, Healing, and Satisfaction in an Adult Inpatient Environment. Health Environments Research & Design Journal, pages in press.
Experts
A research analyst at HDR, Renae Rich strives to connect the work we do with the strategic outcomes our clients care about. Renae plays an integral role in HDR’s research initiatives, including hypothesis development, research design, coordination with project teams and clients, as well as analyzing and interpreting data. Being naturally curious, Renae enjoys that research is about defining clear questions and systematically searching for answers. With a background in advertising and marketing and a Master of Science in statistics, Renae combines her analytic mindset with her creative side to explore complex problems by diving into data. She enjoys working on diverse projects and is compelled by the opportunity to affect people’s lives by influencing change in the buildings and environments where they work, live and spend time.
As a Senior Social Scientist at HDR, Francesqca Jimenez thoughtfully investigates the ways in which the built environment impacts human health, performance, and well-being, and applies research methodology and knowledge to complex real-world problems. Francesqca has a Master of Science in Applied Research in Human-Environment Relations from Cornell University’s Department of Design and Environmental Analysis with a minor in Organizational Behavior, and a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology, English and Gender Studies from the University of California-Los Angeles. Her primary research and professional interests are in environmental psychology, linking environments to health and advancing equity through environmental design. In her work, Francesqca endeavors to understand how built, natural and social environments affect behavior, cognition, emotion, identity and representation.
Sheila DePaola serves as a Nursing Operations Specialist at Parkland Health & Hospital System. Her clinical expertise is in Nursing Informatics and Cardiovascular Interventions. She has a Masters in Nursing with an emphasis on Health Care Informatics from Grand Canyon University, Phoenix, Arizona. Sheila is committed to ensuring that nursing workflows and the technology tools utilized are intuitive, value-added and serve to improve staff engagement, quality of care and the safety of hospitalized patients.