Healthcare Design - April 2016 - 52

ADVERTORIAL

Q&A

their healthcare will be
required. Opportunities
to order food from the
bedside for family as well
as the patient, window
shading controlled by
the patient from the bed,
waiting rooms with tablets
for access to medical
information and shorter
wait times are just some
of the things that this
population expects.

Lynne Wilson Orr,
principal,Parkin Architects
Limited
What is technology's
role in the design of
healthcare spaces?
The answer depends on the
institution. We are always
amazed at how unique each
of our client hospitals is
one from the other. Some of
our clients enthusiastically
embrace technology in
every format and look to be
innovators in their use and
applications of technology
while others worry that the
'human touch' can be lost
if technology is allowed
to take over. The truth lies
somewhere in the middle
and most importantly,
technology needs to be the
'servant' and 'enabler' of

healthcare provision rather
than what drives how
healthcare is provided.
The best technologies
support staff to allow
them to spend as much
time as possible caring for
patients.
What role does
collaboration play in
your process? How do
you ensure the right
people have a voice at
the design table?
Collaboration is the
essential element of
good healthcare design.
The architects don't
work in hospitals so it is
imperative that those who

do, are consulted and
their concerns and needs
are met at every stage of
design. We 'interview' the
hospital user groups just as
they interviewed us during
the selection process and
we will ask that additional
staff with specific expertise
be added to the user team.
Users can be intimidated
by computer-generated
drawings so often the
first drawings that users
see are hand drawn. This
makes it easier for them to
feel comfortable making
suggestions for changes
and helping us create the
best environment for care.
How will the design
of healthcare spaces
change to meet the
demands of today's
consumers?
The baby boomers have
changed society in many
ways and nowhere is
this more evident than
in healthcare. Future
healthcare must meet
the demands of our
aging population that
is very technologically
connected. This results
in demands for more
space for families, more
privacy and better, closer
connections to staff, easier
access to the internet
and more technological
solutions that allow
patients to personalize

Rendering: courtesy Parkin Architects Limited

Tell us something
surprising about your
company that people
may not know.
We have been involved in
evidence based design
research since 2006 with
our first research project
undertaken in conjunction
with two nurses from
Sunnybrook Health
Sciences Centre. This
predates EDAC by two
years and was the first of
many research projects
that we have undertaken
looking at everything
from the influence of the
work environment on staff
retention to the impacts
of noise abatement in
NICU environments. Our
current research project
is a Post Occupancy
Evaluation (POE) of
Providence Health Care
in Kingston, Ontario led
by Celeste Alvaro, Ph.D.,
Celeste Alvaro Research
& Evaluation (CARE) who
led the seminal POE study
of Bridgepoint Active
Healthcare.
www.parkin.ca
http://www.parkin.ca
Healthcare Design - April 2016

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