A resource for your design dilemmas.

Frequently, design serves only a cosmetic and/or purely functional role because the necessary organizational culture has not been established or maintained. In a quest to discover and demonstrate the many ways that environmental design can be used to improve the quality of health care - and the "culture" of a caring facility, the Center for Health Design offers its services to interested nursing homes.

In line with this, it has identified the following "bridges," through which quality design can positively support a long-term care provider's organizational objectives, i.e., quality design can:

* Enhance the facility's desired therapeutic objectives,

* Improve staff satisfaction and performance,

* Increase family and visitor participation, and

* Encourage additional community support.

Any one of these results can significantly improve an organization's performance. Collectively, they serve as a powerful transformer, leveraging funds invested in facility design to the status of genuine contributions to resident care. It is crucial to understand that the "quality environmental design" that is being discussed here does not need to be expensive or elaborate. Rather, it is more a question of structuring the design process so that all capital expenditures can function as investments instead of costs. As in all investments, the decisions should be guided by intended results, such as a reasonable period in which one can expect to receive a return on the investment.

The Center for Health Design is a nonprofit organization that offers facilities cost-effective, useful resources toward this end. Currently, the Center actively serves a global network of almost 20,000 individuals. Since The Center is a network, and not a membership organization, its resources are accessible to anyone and, in several cases, at no cost.

For example, the Center provides complimentary technical assistance. All requests are responded to, whether they be by telephone, fax, or mail. The usual kinds of assistance provided include:

* Where to locate a product

* Where to visit noteworthy examples of particular facility types

* Recommendations of professionals to contact

* Recommended readings

* Sources for current, topical, specific information

Several other resources are offered. Each November, for instance, the Center produces a "Symposium on Healthcare Design." The Symposium includes a dedicated presentation track on long-term care design, up to 15 continuing education credits for long-term care administrators, tours of exemplary local facilities, a trade show, and numerous other benefits of attendance. The Eighth Symposium on Healthcare Design, themed "Discovering New Strategies, Skills, and Resources," will be held November 16-19, 1995, in San Diego.

The Journal of Healthcare Design is published each year as the proceedings of the Symposium. This 200-plus-page document includes the edited transcripts of the major presentations, photographs and descriptions of the winners of the three design competitions sponsored by the Center, and color photographs of the facilities that are visited by the tours. Volumes I through VII are currently available, either individually or as an entire set.

Two research reports have been produced by the Center and a third is currently in production. The second and third reports could be useful resources to long-term care providers. The second research report is a guideline of how to productively plan, conduct, and follow-up on facility site visits during the design phase of a project, thus maximizing the results of these efforts for subsequent design decisions. The third report is a guideline for the development of therapeutic gardens.

A third publication that the Center produces is its quarterly newsletter, Esclepius. This eight-page document provides news, information, resources, trend data, and other immediately useful material for those who are actively seeking to more effectively use design of the physical environment as a means to improve their organization's performance. Each participant in the Center's network (for which there is no fee) is sent a complimentary issue of the newsletter in July.

Beginning in 1996, the Center will undertake a major, multi-year research initiative created to provide clinical outcomes-based data that substantiate the relationship between the physical environment and clinical outcomes. Directed by the Center's three-year-old Research Committee of nationally recognized researchers, the project will be structured to produce useful preliminary data at regular intervals.

Whether your organization is planning a code-related or cosmetic upgrade, an addition, a new facility, or any number of simple projects, the Center for Health Design is available to assist you in being as effective as possible in achieving your goal.

The Center for Health Design, Inc. 4550 Alhambra Way Martinez, CA 94553-4406 Tel: [phone]; Fax: [phone]

Wayne Ruga is the founder, President, and CEO of The Center for Health Design.