December 24, 2012—A new free research report explores how the design and arrangement of hospitals and particularly patient rooms affects the chances that a patient will fall and be injured during a hospital stay. Contribution of the Designed Environment to Fall Risk in Hospitals, is now available in The Center for Health Design’s Knowledge Repository thanks to support from The Facility Guidelines Institute and IDEAS Institute.
In-patient falls are the largest single category of reported incidents in hospitals, affecting up to 10 percent of annual hospital admissions. With such a high number affecting patient safety and operating costs, it is important to understand the range of factors that impact falls and fall risk. This report provides a cross-sectional analysis of 27 units in 12 hospitals and, using archival fall data, identifies a number of environmental characteristics associated with greater or fewer falls, including visibility to staff work spaces, presence of a dedicated family space in the room, and bathroom layout.
“Multiple issues need to be considered while making decisions about healthcare interiors. Nowhere is this more evident than in the design of the patient room,” stated Margaret Calkins, Ph.D., M Arch, EDAC, senior research scientist, IDEAS Institute. “Design decisions about the room layout, flooring, lighting, finishes, and furniture, impact a range of healthcare outcomes for patients such as patient satisfaction, hospital-acquired infections (HAIs), patient falls and medical errors. With reimbursement tied increasingly to these hospital-acquired conditions and patient satisfaction, hospital owners and administrators are paying a lot of attention to the factors that impact these outcomes, including the design of the built environment and the design of patient rooms.”
The Facility Guidelines Institute (FGI) is responsible for the Guidelines for Design and Construction of Health Care Facilities that is used as code in over 40 states by facilities, designers, and authorities for the design and construction of new and renovated healthcare facilities. The IDEAS Institute is a nonprofit organization that seeks to be a premier resource of information and environment-behavioral research centered on improving care and quality of life for elders.
