design, to décor and landscaping, the selection of child friendly and appropriate surfaces, furnishings, art and graphics, patterns and colour schemes – should be designed and built to help children thrive and heal faster by using key paediatric design issues and factors and evidence-based design The unique physical, social, developmental and emotional needs of children and their families must be met at all times or the patient and family will suffer. The security, safety issues and emotional and personal care needs for children are unique and different from adults Keep in mind, that spaces and functional solutions for designing for paediatric facilities vary by the age and acuity of the children’s condition. Design considerations must accommodate varying patient numbers, ages, sizes and levels of acuity in the same facility and any given time. Accommodating these functional and use variations requires much more space than planning adult care facilities.
Mount Washington Pediatric Hospital - Rosenberg Center Baltimore. Image © HYDE
care for and heal them now and into the future. I encourage Middle East and Asian region
healthcare providers and design professionals to review this document and consider building more family; women’s and paediatric care specialty facilities for these untapped regions. I also encourage and challenge healthcare providers and educators to continue the work of this document, by doing evidence-based research while you are designing, constructing and occupying and operating the whole of the new paediatric and family care facilities we know the Middle East and Asian Regions so desperately need.
What do We knoW about the facility support needs of sick and injured children and hoW to best design to meet them? Below are some of the unique needs and operations and facility design solutions we have seen implemented to date: Key issues to be considered when designing
AUTHOR INFO Andrea is an International Healthcare Design and Planning Consultant with over 30 years of experience designing and planning healthcare facilities in the US and Middle East.
healthcare facilities for children are: Keep in mind, that when a child becomes ill or injured and is at the doctor’s office, emergency room or becomes hospitalized, the entire family becomes the patient Every detail, from site and plan accessibility and layout, to patient staff and visitor flow
provide child and family- friendly environments A stay in the hospital can be frightening for children of all ages, and they’re often comforted by only one thing: their families being there with them as much as possible. The family and visitors have different needs than the patients themselves. These spaces increase the amount of space and types of spaces a paediatric hospital or outpatient facility requires and differ greatly from typical adult care facility requirements and standards and codes. This is why a well-designed paediatric
facility, outpatient or inpatient, must incorporate family-style services and conveniences in every aspect of the plan and design. Providing private patient rooms and areas for sibling childcare, and comfortable and private family activity and sleep accommodations makes the visit easier on stressed-out concerned parents and their ailing sick or injured child.
Some of the types of helpful family focused spaces and features to consider in the design of paediatric facilities include: Private rooms with full-size pull-out adult sized and comfortable beds and ample personal supplies and storage to easily accommodate possibly two family members overnight as optimum A private handicapped accessible bathroom, complete with a shower and some rooms with tubs for bathing small children Consider the height, size, physical and
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