Healthcare Design - September 2021 - 20

RESEARCHER
KARA FREIHOEFER
PhD, NCIDQ, EDAC, LEED ID+C, Director of Research, HGA
(Milwaukee)
J
OINING HGA AS a design researcher in
2012 after graduating with a PhD in interior
design from University of Minnesota,
Kara Freihoefer today serves as
director of research as well as a leader
of HGA's Design Insight Group, an interdisciplinary
team of researchers, process improvement
engineers, design thinkers, and data analysts
who work collaboratively to help facilitate
research and discovery and advocate for change
based on their fi ndings. In that role, Freihoefer
spearheads fi rmwide research initiatives across
all market sectors including healthcare, working
to develop new ways to practice architecture
and design through the creation and application
of research tools centered around
empathy and curiosity. Freihoefer is a believer
that the integration of research into each step
of the design process will lead to not just innovative
but informed solutions that best answer
user needs.
The success of her approach was demonstrated
in the past year through her work on an
emergency department (ED) renovation with
Trinity Health of New England, where Freihoefer's
efforts-from literature reviews to
shadowing studies to Gemba walks-taught the
team how to not only conduct research but use
the results to make decisions. For example, by
shadowing staff in the existing space, the team
was able to apply data collected to propose onstage/off
stage layouts, ultimately validating the
schemes that enhance efficiency 20 to 30 percent.
Freihoefer also created what's dubbed a
" core team " at HGA, composed of market leaders
at the fi rm who strive to prioritize research
topics into project work. This formalized process
ensures both a strategic and integrated
approach to research at HGA, resulting in internal
studies over the past year on topics such
as inclusive room and unit design for patients
with physical and mental health comorbidities
as well as ED preparedness for crisis events.
20
SEP TEMBER 2021
Additionally, she co-led several exploratory
investigations on the impact of the COVID-19
pandemic on telemedicine in ambulatory care
as well as on workplace strategy and design.
The effectiveness of Freihoefer's contributions,
including her work at St. Elizabeth
Healthcare in Kentucky and SSM Health in
Wisconsin, has been recognized with recent
Environmental Design Research Association
Certification of Research Excellence certificates,
and she continues to share her knowledge
industry-wide through published work and
speaking appearances.
WHAT DO YOU LOVE MOST ABOUT YOUR JOB?
I love being in the project work, collaborating
with colleagues and users, and finding new approaches
to solve complex design problems.
WHAT INDUSTRY CHALLENGE DO YOU HOPE
TO SOLVE?
Data management. Our industry has so much
data at its fi ngertips, but it's often fragmented.
By managing datasets better, we have the potential
to find relationships across different
variables. For example, we could explore research
questions like how the size of a patient
room (space metrics) relates to patient and staff
safety metrics such as falls or work injuries
(outcome metrics).
WHO INSPIRES YOU?
I'm inspired by my colleagues and clients-their
passion and commitment to create designs that
produce positive outcomes make my job as a researcher
fun and exciting.
WHAT'S THE NEXT MAJOR TREND YOU ANTICIPATE
FOR HEALTHCARE DESIGN?
Resiliency design in terms of highly flexible and
adaptable designs that can respond seamlessly to
emergency events, from highly infectious diseases
to natural disasters to traumatic events.
HCDMAGAZINE.COM
http://www.HCDMAGAZINE.COM
Healthcare Design - September 2021

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Healthcare Design - September 2021
