Berit Lindahl
Sweden
intervention research, ICU patient room, high-tech healing environments
''5. Međunarodni kongres HDMSARIST-a'' i ''8. Međunarodni kongres WfCCN-a''
Šibenik, 12.-15. travnja 2012. godine
Background: Present ICUs are primarily developed from a medical and technological view and not attuned to present insights about what environmental factors may have on the ICU patients’ recovery processes. Present ICU environments can per se lead to development ICU delirium/syndrome, which leads to a longer ICU-stay, hospitalization and in some cases deaths. We therefore questioning existing ICU design practices and pose an overall research question; if a specially designed patient room in an ICU affects the people who stay there, i.e. patients, next of kin and staff compared to an ordinary ICU patient room.
Aim: This presentation will describe the process of the planning, implement and the testing of a research design of an intervention study performed in an ICU.
Methods: The project has an experimental design.
Results: The intervention consists of the construction of one patient room in an ICU. The planning took place during the years 2008-2010 and started with a review of literature describing physical environments in hospitals. The intervention study involves co-operation among scholars from architecture, environmental medicine and experts from companies within the health care area as well as ICU care practitioners. The intervention room was refurbished according to principles of evidence-based design regard to sound, light, shape and access to nature. New and innovative products, e.g. bed linen in ecological textile materials, cyclic lightning and sound absorbents were installed. Examples of the interior shaping of the intervention room will be presented as well as the planning and implementation process.
Conclusion: There is a great challenge in developing research programs that create healing environments that are more conductive to patients’ recovery processes, next of kin and staff.