2022 Accomplishments

• The Center's research team continues with several primary research projects:
  • Completed two Interactive Design Diagrams – the Therapeutic ED Treatment Room and a Behavioral and Mental Health Inpatient Room.
  • Added an issue brief, executive summary, design strategies and tool on clinician burnout.
  • Continued work with MedStar Health Research Institute on an AHRQ Patient Safety Learning Lab exploring the misdiagnosis of cardiovascular disease in women, including our first chance to do onsite observations since the pandemic.
  • Continued work with the University of Utah and our National Design Advisory Committee on an AHRQ grant (including our first in-person meeting in more than two years) to evaluate patient room design for stability to mitigate the risk of falls.
  • Awarded a grant from Bader Philanthropies for a Design Lexicon for Aging and Dementia in Long-Term Care Settings and Beyond.
  • Started a project to evaluate indoor environmental quality in dining settings in long-term care.
  • Completed a sonic study surrounding sleep in long-term care, with a resulting paper submitted to a peer-reviewed journal.
  • Addie Abushousheh co-authored a publication with Maggie Calkins and Migette Kaup – an evaluation of environmental assessment tools in the journal Alzheimer’s & Dementia.
• Presented education sessions for EDRA, Environments for Aging Conference + Expo, Association of Safe Patient Handling National SPHM Event, Human Factors and Ergonomics Society Healthcare Symposium, Conference on Environmental Psychology (Norway), Healthcare Design Conference + Expo, Leading Age, The Center’s Icons webinars and virtual workshops, and was invited to a roundtable for ULI Toronto with Stantec.
• Guest lecture/adjunct positions at Clemson University, Lawrence Technological University, Kent State, and Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi.
• The Knowledge Repository grew to over 5,690 references, 884 key point summaries and 38 slidecasts with support from the AIA, ASHE, FGI, NIHD and Research Design Connections.
• The Knowledge Repository turned 10 years old and continues to share healthcare design resources with our community.
• Provided six "Research in a Snap" newsletters, listing the most recent papers and citations found in the Knowledge Repository.
• The HERD Journal turned 15 years old and continues to provide evidence-based articles on the design of health environments and the design-related outcomes associated with safety, clinical results, organizational performance, economics, and the human experience.
• The HERD Journal continues its quarterly issues and its Impact Factor has increased to 2.744 (from 2.624 in 2020).
• Finished out the 2022 FGI Guidelines cycle with three representatives from The Center, two of whom are completing their roles as the HGRC Vice Chair/Executive Committee of the Steering Committee and Residential Document tri-chair. We’ve started the next four-year cycle already, with the same appointments for the 2026 edition.
• Melissa Piatkowski wrote six Design Discoveries articles in HFM Magazine.
• Welcomed Yolanda Keys, PhD, DHA, RN, NEA-BC, EDAC to our research team!
• Had some of our research team re-locate throughout the country (can you say beer & cheese to wine and avocados) and to Norway!
• Relaunched the New Investigator Award as the Joseph G. Sprague New Investigator Award.
• Ellen Taylor was on the jury for the AIA Healthcare Design Awards and the Wilbur H (Tib) Tusler, Jr. Health Design Research Prize.
• Ellen Taylor completed her year as the AIA Academy of Architecture for Health President.

Education

• Produced 30 webinars providing 32 continuing education hours. Over 213 webinars are now available on demand.
• Produced 4 virtual workshops on demand and 1 in person workshop that focused on infection prevention, aging, pre-fab and behavioral and mental health facility design. Over 1,500 participants attended these workshops from around the globe.
• Partnered with more than 50 industry-leading solution providers whose commitment to learning, support and sponsorship made our educational programs and events possible and accessible to a vast audience of industry professionals, students and others.
• Produced the Environments for Aging and Healthcare Design Conferences with our partner Emerald Expositions, offering over 150 CEUs and networking opportunities with over 3,000 colleagues, peers and industry leaders.
• Welcomed 150 newly certified professionals to the EDAC certified community from across the US, Australia, Canada, China, Finland, and India.
• Updated the EDAC program with a new content outline and launched a new exam.
• Hosted two EDAC virtual events to convene and engage the EDAC community.
• Conducted virtual and in-person “Putting EBD into Practice” workshops with attendees from across the US, Canada, Brazil, and Denmark.

Advocacy

• This was the inaugural year of the Pediatric Environment Network (PEN). The network is made up of 13 healthcare facilities; 12 A/D firms; seven industry partners; and one foundation. The network has international members from Canada and Norway.
• PEN has three 90-minute virtual drumbeat calls, two virtual four-hour deep dive meetings, and one in-person 1 ½ day meeting. The first in person was hosted at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia.
• The Built Environment Network (BEN) welcomed Cedars Sinai and Optum as new members. 
• For the first time since 2020, BEN held two onsite meetings at Stanford Health and Boston Medical Center with tours of new facilities, modular mockups and rooftop gardens, along with innovative programs.
• BEN members participated in the “Voices of the Industry” webinars sharing insights and solutions about current challenges facing healthcare systems today.
• BEN joined the National Academy of Medicine’s (NAM) Action Collaborative on Decarbonizing the U.S. Health Sector (Climate Collaborative).
• ​Welcomed 55 new Affiliate members and 10 new Affiliate+ members to our community of more than 5,500 members.
• The Environmental Standards Council started their next initiative “Patient Experience in the Digital Age”. Several members of the Environmental Standards Council presented at this year’s Healthcare Design Conference + Expo on the patient experience in the digital age.
• Awarded 19 Touchstone Awards: 6 Platinum, 5 Gold, and 8 Silver. Two of the awards were for products.
• Awarded 4 projects and noted 3 honorable mentions for the 2022 Healthcare Environment Awards. 
• Awarded the Environments for Aging Changemaker Award to Margaret Calkins and Healthcare Design Changemaker Award to Ray Pentecost. Each was celebrated at the Awards Ceremony at their respective conferences.      
• Awarded Uriel Cohen and Gerald Weisman, with the Russ Coile Lifetime Achievement Award and celebrated their accomplishments at the Environments for Aging Conference.