5 Things the Best Children’s Hospitals Have in Common

Some children see a visit to the hospital as an adventure; for others it is terrifying. The best children’s hospital show their patients that their facility is a place where healing occurs, where people go to get better. Design matters immensely when it comes to children’s hospitals because receptiveness during treatment and rapid recovery can be profoundly influenced by environment.

Here are several design ideas that will make your children’s hospital among the best:

Make public spaces appealing to preschoolers as well as teenagers, since both are children’s hospital patients. In waiting rooms, keep toys on one side of the area and fish tanks, televisions and other items of general interest on the other side of the room so teens can choose where they want to sit. Vary color, texture and interest items throughout the hospital to create a soothing environment from the moment a child sets foot inside. Interior themes, such as aquatic, astronomy and sports, can be used to identify corridors for easier recognition by the patient and family members.

Wall-mounted diversions and healthy food vending machines can sooth and engage people in waiting rooms. Design these areas with family clusters of upholstered chairs and tables, rather than long rows of stiff individual chairs, so families have the comfort of their own space. Make sure the waiting area is far enough away from elevators so that small children don’t wander away.

Family Style.

Dining with others helps child patients eat better. Hospital food can be strange to anyone, but easy access to the cafeteria or a communal area on each patient floor where children can interact mitigates the trauma and enhances healing. Playrooms, often supervised by volunteers, are a necessity on each floor, and can be the place for computers with Internet access, as well as the site for family visits. The playroom must be carefully designed to be sunny, spacious, safe and alluring, so that children are motivated to move and interact. There may well be nursery wall decals used to add color and points of interest to the room that keep the children happy and entertained.

Design imaging equipment rooms to be adjacent to each other to reduce the walking distance young patients must travel. Locating the MRI, CAT scan and labs in the same area improves the efficiency of the caregivers and reduces patient stress. Naturally, it also helps to contain infrastructure costs. Harnessing electrical surges and supporting equipment weight are necessary precautions that can be more easily applied to a designated area. Medical imaging equipment is a major investment for any institution, but it can be less costly if equipment is located together with the support of the proper infrastructure.

Provide some patient rooms with movable walls so a single room can be expanded into a double room to accommodate supplies, equipment, family and loneliness. Although the trend in pediatric design is toward private rooms, a child who is going to be in the hospital for an extended stay and whose parents cannot stay with him or her may want to be in a room with another child.

Provide patients with internet access to allow them to stay connected through computers in the playroom or provide wi-fi in every patient room. It may seem like a small design issue, but if you give patients the ability to control the lighting in their room, they will feel empowered to take control of aspects of their illnesses. Most importantly, ensure that the sun can shine into all patient rooms. Besides the research that documents the biological importance of adequate levels of Vitamin D, sunshine makes people feel good, a factor in healing that cannot be overemphasized.

http://www.ewingcole.com/