HEALTHCARE HYGIENE
Washroom design for the Healthcare sector
Tina Bowden, Sales Manager at Dudley Industries, takes a look at how designers of washrooms in healthcare environments must navigate numerous regulatory demands.
Washrooms in healthcare environments must be designed to navigate a multitude of demands from regulators. These include accessibility standards and minimum provision based on expected footfall. Beyond these, special attention must also be paid to safeguarding, disability needs and the unique requirements of multicultural communities.
Supporting vulnerable users in washroom environments is an especially important consideration when designing for hospitals and healthcare premises. Some users may experience problems associated with dementia; others may suffer from poor mental health, leading to a risk self-harm.
Dementia and washroom design
As life expectancies increase, dementia is becoming increasingly common and, for people with the condition, using an unfamiliar washroom can be disorientating. However, the use of contrasting colours can help to focus attention by cutting through the visual distractions of busy washroom environments. By providing stark visual cues to the most logical route around the room, such products can guide the user efficiently through each stage of washing and drying.
Some washroom equipment manufacturers now offer products mounted on boldly coloured wall-plates. A white dispenser on a blue wall plate will stand out well against a pale wall – additionally, the blue and white combination is especially appropriate as it has been shown to have a calming effect.
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Ideally, the placement of WCs, basins and associated dispensers will form a roughly circular route through the room, starting and ending at the door. This helps to ensure that users aren’t funnelled into crowded areas, which some people might find stressful or alarming.
Noise can also be a cause for anxiety in some people. For certain settings, designers may choose to fit paper towel dispensers rather than electric hand dryers so as to avoid loud and unexpected noise. Being obviously quieter in use, paper towels may also be the preferred choice in residential healthcare settings, where designers will want to limit disturbance to people in adjacent bedrooms.
Helping to prevent self-harm
Washrooms are inherently private spaces and, as such, they afford opportunities for self-harm – particularly those involving the use of ligatures. In settings where people may suffer from poor mental health, the attendant risks are higher so designers should explore suitable ways of lessening them. Note that the same principles also apply to washrooms in other settings such as prisons, court buildings, rehabilitation centres and refuges.
Research by the Healthcare Quality Improvement Partnership found that between 2009-2019, there were 66,991 suicides in the general population, of which 18,268 were suicide deaths by patients (i.e. people in contact with mental health services within 12 months of suicide).
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