The Aging Caregiver & The Aging Patient... Integrating Evidence and Ergonomics in Facility Planning and Interior Design
Due to the aging of the 78 million baby boomers in the U.S., estimates reveal that acute care patient demands will exceed the supply of nurses by 1 million in 2020. Moreover, nurses report the number one reason for leaving the nursing profession, other than retiring, is secondary to the physical demands of the profession and job related stress. Concurrently, specific acute care units dedicated to the special needs of this growing population are emerging across the county providing a plethora of statistics that reveal when facility design and the nursing care plan adapts to the needs of the elderly patient (defined as greater than 75 years of age), length of stay is reduced, cognitive deficits secondary to hospitalization are decreased and unnecessary re-admissions are reduced dramatically. This growing elderly population, will pose more physical demands to an existing physically demanding profession. As such, facility planners and interior designers need to proactively consider the implications in their designs. With fewer nurses caring for more patients, how will facility design adapt to accommodate this disparity of caregiver to patient?
Referencing credible data and controlled studies to address patient safety and the multi-disciplinary team performance, this presentation will focus on facility design and the adaptations required to address the care delivery of these elders by an aging workforce in the future.
Objectives – following this presentation, the attendee will be able to:
- List four reasons the elderly acute care patient is different from a younger patient.
- List programmatic implications of facility design when planning for this acute care setting.
- Identify which ergonomic technologies are necessary for addressing health care provider efficiency, effectiveness and safety when caring for this population.
- Understand the spatial requirements when providing safe patient handling technologies.
- Address interior design elements, by room types, which are correlated with improved patient outcomes such as patient cognition, patient safety, proper rest and a prompt discharge.
Laurie Waggener, BSRC, RRT, IIDA, AAHID, EDACWHR Architects, Inc.Laurie has merged two careers in order to play an integral part in health facility design. Her background in clinical management, interior design and design research enables her to provide knowledge driven solutions and specifications for multiple department types and service lines within the acute care and ambulatory care hospital setting. Laurie leads the efforts in the implementation of informed based design through all phases of the healthcare facility design process as well coordinates original research efforts at WHR Architects. Current research initiatives include clinical efficiency and quality improvement strategies through design, patient and staff safety and third party Health Facility Evaluation processes. Her research, articles and interviews have been published in Healthcare Environments and Research Design Journal (HERD), Critical Care Quarterly, Children’s Hospitals Today, Healthcare Design Magazine, Contract Magazine, Interior Sources and Facility Design. Project design awards include: Modern Healthcare Merit of Excellence, Healthcare Symposium User Centered award and an AIA commendation for Healthcare Interiors. Before entering the design industry, Laurie served as technical director for respiratory care in a 650 bed hospital. As a clinician and interior designer, she speaks nationally regarding the integration of credible evidence to inform the design of clinical workplace settings for improved caregiver performance and clients’ patient care quality improvement strategies.
