So how would bricks and mortar affect quality?
A caring, compassionate environment has nothing to do with opulence, or even hospitality, according to the Picker Institute of Boston and the Center for Health Design. A three-year study titled "Consumer perceptions of healthcare environments - An investigation to determine what matters" aims to build on the existing knowledge regarding the relationship between consumer satisfaction and health outcomes.
Heading the research are the Picker Institute and Center for Health Design. Three facilities are participating: HealthEast in St. Paul, MN; Lahey Hitchcock Clinic in Burlington, MA; and Whitney Place in Westborough, MA.
Quality should imbue all aspects
If your facility is already under construction, don't worry that instilling compassion into your ambience will, by default, mean higher project costs. In fact, an attractive health care setting is not necessarily compassionate in terms of its capacity for reducing patient anxiety and stress.
Existing customer research, explains Health-East's Caring Touch project manager Corey Hobbins, shows that customers equate compassionate environments with plant design, the quality of customer service they receive from staff, and the way care is delivered.
Tony Thomas, HealthEast systems director of construction and building management hastens to distinguish between high-cost features and design elements which he says, you have to buy, no matter what. In a compassionate environment, the textures and lighting might be soft, corners rounded, and windows placed close to the floor to maximize outdoor views for people in chairs and beds. Participating facilities hope to learn more from focus groups which will be convened over the course of the project.
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