Emelieke Huisman

A structural approach for the redesign of a small-scale care facility as a guideline for decision-makers

ABSTRACT Long-term care facilities in the Netherlands try to implement new design approaches to enrich their environments and to cope with the changes and innovations in the Dutch healthcare sector. An enriched environment supports both quality of life of people with frail health and the well-being of the healthcare professionals who take care of them. Despite the increased attention devoted to built environments in relation to health, a gap in knowledge remains how to implement new design approaches. The aim of this study is to present a structural approach for a decision-making process to help to create enriched small-scale care facilities for older people with a frail health condition. A case study was conducted to understand how the structural approach contributes to implementing design features of an enriched environment. The structural approach identifies the key factors (such as shared language, collective understanding and involvement of stakeholders) that should be considered when developing such facilities and describes the critical steps for decision-makers for such environment. This case study provides a rich source of information from actual experiences for a better understanding of steering mechanisms for decision-making by the management of small-scale care facilities.

The meaning of physical environmental factors on patient, family, carers and staff outcomes

The architecture, engineering and construction (AEC) sector can make an essential contribution to needed breakthroughs and provide new solutions for the improvement of independent and active living in the built environment, including for older adults. This is related to (i) reducing impediments of immobility and maintaining autonomy at home, (ii) reducing the number of accidents and increasing health, (iii) developing integrated care and cure of disabled and aging people, (iv) providing a setting that enables physical, environmental, and social integration, and (v) meeting personal needs, e.g. by realizing new forms of living arrangements that reduce loneliness and improve communication and social expectations in the built environment.