First Comprehensive Reference on Evidence-Based Design...( Malkin ties building design to im...),Health

Malkin ties building design to improved outcomes

CONCORD, Calif., June 4 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Jain Malkin, a healthcare interior architect and pioneer in the field of evidence-based design, draws on extensive research in her new book, "A Visual Reference for Evidence-Based Design," to build the case that scientifically-proven design principles can enhance the patient experience and significantly increase patient safety.

Published by The Center for Health Design (CHD) with a grant from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, the book is well-timed as acute care hospitals throughout the United States are in major construction mode - to the tune of $41 billion in reported new building and renovation projects YE 2007.* CHD, a research and advocacy organization of 40,000 healthcare and design professionals and a strong proponent of evidence-based design (EBD), spearheaded the project. EBD is defined as the application of principles and building features that have demonstrated scientifically they can improve patient outcomes -- a better, safer hospital experience. As evidence-based medicine guides clinicians, EBD is the operating guideline in designing, building, and furnishing 21st century hospitals and clinics.

"Because first impressions are important, it's understandable that we often encounter appealing hospital lobbies -- water features, gardens and music, cozy fireplaces and exquisite art," states Malkin. "It's the patient rooms and treatment areas that suffer, yet research tells us clearly that reducing patients' stress can improve their immune response."

In each chapter Malkin demonstrates how proven building design features can improve patient care, safety, infection control, immune response, staff productivity and satisfaction. The chapter on hospital-acquired infections is particularly notable given the media coverage over the last year of the alarming rate of drug-resistant infections -- an estimated 85 percent of staph inf
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