Exploring the value of multi-sensory aids in co-designing assistive home devices for older adults with cognitive impairment.

In this study, we aimed to investigate the benefits of co-design prompts/aids in the development of assistive devices for and with older adults who have cognitive impairment (CI), with the goal of improving their ability to live independently at home. We conducted a series of co-design workshops and utilized eight sets of multi-sensory aids to explore their values and effectiveness in engaging older adults with CI in co-design processes. Our findings revealed that the co-design aids had several benefits, including: (1) increasing the exchange of knowledge and awareness between older adults and designers; (2) eliciting insightful information through multi-sensorial aids, and (3) generating novel assistive design solutions to support seniors' independent living at home.

Designing for Family Engagement in Neonatal ICUs: How Is the Interior Design of Single-Family Rooms Supporting Family Behaviors, From Passive to Active?

Purpose: Understand how the interior design of single-family rooms (SFRs) in neonatal intensive care units (NICUs) can support family engagement behaviors.

Background: Family members are integral contributors to infant care in NICUs, impacting infant development. While at the NICU, parents are encouraged to participate in a process called family engagement, where they are expected to move from passive to active caregivers, in preparation for their role after discharge.

Healthcare design to improve safe doffing of personal protective equipment for care of patients with COVID-19.

Objective: Understand how the built environment can affect safety and efficiency outcomes during doffing of personal protective equipment (PPE) in the context of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) patient care.

Study Design: We conducted (1) field observations and surveys administered to healthcare workers (HCWs) performing PPE doffing, (2) focus groups with HCWs and infection prevention experts, and (3) a with healthcare design experts.

Settings: This study was conducted in 4 inpatient units treating patients with COVID-19, in 3 hospitals of a single healthcare system.

Comparing User Perceptions of Surgical Environments: Simulations in a High-Fidelity Physical Mock-Up Versus a Postoccupancy Evaluation.

Objective: The purpose of this study was to compare perceptions and behaviors of end users participating in simulations in a high-fidelity physical mock-up of an operating room (OR) prototype with the perceptions and behaviors of end users in the built out ORs postoccupancy.

Background: Simulation-based evaluations of high-fidelity physical mock-ups of proposed layouts are increasingly being conducted during the facility design process to understand impacts on workflow and potential adverse patient safety outcomes. Nevertheless, it is unclear to what extent user experiences in these simulated healthcare spaces are similar to those in built and occupied healthcare environments.

The Fit Between Spatial Configuration and Idealized Flows: Mapping Flows in Surgical Facilities as Part of Case Study Visits.

Purpose: This study proposes a flow mapping approach for surgical facilities that can be implemented by design teams as a component of case study tours.

Background: The provision of healthcare services involves simultaneous and closely coupled flows of people, objects, and information, and the efficiency of these flows is influenced by the spatial configuration of the buildings where these services are housed. Many architecture firms conduct case study tours to inform their design process.

Proactive Evaluation of an Operating Room Prototype: A Simulation-Based Modeling Approach.

Objectives: There is a pressing need to improve safety and efficiency in the operating room (OR). Postsurgical adverse events, such as surgical site infections and surgical flow disruption, occur at a significant rate in industrial countries where a considerable portion of such complications result in death. The aim of the study was to identify an ideal room design that improves the flow of staff members using risk and safety performance measures.

Minor flow disruptions, traffic-related factors and their effect on major flow disruptions in the operating room.

Background: Studies in operating rooms (OR) show that minor disruptions tend to group together to result in serious adverse events such as surgical errors. Understanding the characteristics of these minor flow disruptions (FD) that impact major events is important in order to proactively design safer systems OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study is to use a systems approach to investigate the aetiology of minor and major FDs in ORs in terms of the people involved, tasks performed and OR traffic, as well as the location of FDs and other environmental characteristics of the OR that may contribute to these disruptions.

Methods: Using direct observation and classification of FDs via video recordings of 28 surgical procedures, this study modelled the impact of a range of system factors-location of minor FDs, roles of staff members involved in FDs, type of staff activities as well as OR traffic-related factors-on major FDs in the OR.

The Association Between Apartment Layout and Depressive Symptomology among Hispanic/Latino Residents in Low-Income Housing: the AHOME Study.

In this study of low-income Hispanic/Latino adults living in 291 individual apartments in the Bronx, New York, the apartment layout was significantly associated with the odds of depressive symptomology. Women living in apartments in which the most central rooms were the living, dining, or kitchen (i.e.