Evidence-Based Design (EBD) « Therapeutic Landscapes Network

HEALTHCARE DESIGN 2013 early bird registration ends 5/10!

May 9, 2013 | by Naomi Sachs

Nova Southeastern University Medicinal & Healing Garden, Orlando, Florida.
Photo from www.jessedurko.com/novahealinggarden.html

Register now and save big!

The annual HEALTHCARE DESIGN Conference in Orlando, Florida this fall is months away, but the opportunity to save significantly on the registration fee is coming to a close. Friday, May 10 is the last day to receive the “super saver” conference rate for the event that takes place November 16-19, 2013.

The premier conference is devoted to the design of responsibly built environments and how such settings directly impact the safety, operation, clinical outcomes, and financial success of healthcare facilities. Attendees come from many disciplines and different levels of professional experience including architecture, interior design, facilities management, academia, clinical care, product developers, service providers, and researchers, to name just a few.

Register for the conference, check out the packed agenda, and learn about the exhibitors.

Clare Cooper Marcus and I will be there (with our new book!) for the TAMU First Look Colloquium speaking about “Therapeutic Landscapes: Tools for Successful Design and Outcomes.” I’ll post more about what other specific educations sessions our TLN members might be interested in.

For more information on the Nova Southeastern University Medicinal & Healing Garden in Orlando see this article from the Sun Sentinel. The photo is from http://www.jessedurko.com/novahealinggarden.html.

Center for Health Design ICONS & Innovators Webinar Series

March 9, 2013 | by Naomi Sachs

Therapeutic Landscapes Network Director Naomi Sachs, along with her fabulous colleagues Alberto Salvatore and Jerry Smith, will be part of the ICONS and Innovators Webinar Series next week on the action-packed day of Thursday, March 14. Theirs is one of three webinars that provide an interactive experience with an exclusive line-up of healthcare thought leaders offering fresh perspectives to inform work strategies. All three webinars are listed below:

“Healing Spaces: The Science of Place and Wellbeing: Implications for Designing Healthy Spaces for Healthcare Settings”
Dr. Esther Sternberg
Can stress make you sick? Can belief help healing? Does the place and space around you affect your health? These are the questions that Dr. Sternberg explores.
9:00 am PDT/12:00 pm EDT.
For a TLN interview with Esther Sternberg, click here.

“The Case for Access to Nature”
Naomi Sachs, ASLA, EDAC
Alberto Salvatore, AIA, NCARB, EDAC
Jerry Smith, FASLA, EDAC, LEED AP
Discover the proposed revisions to the Guidelines for Design and Construction of Health Care Facilities that will allow regulatory agencies to more strongly support the inclusion of meaningful outdoor spaces in future projects.
11:00 am PDT/2:00 pm EDT.

“The Impact of Color – Research Reviewed and Redefined”
Rosalyn Cama, FASID, EDAC
Eve Edelstein, MArch, Ph.D, AssocAIA, FAAA
Sheila Bosch, Ph.D, LEED AP, EDAC.
Become familiar with research about color and lighting with perspectives from the neuroscience of vision, the psychology of perception, and include sociocultural and functional effects that have impact on design and user outcomes.
1:00 pm PDT/ 4:00 pm EDT

TUITION PER WEBINAR:
Individual: $90.00, Organization: $180.00

WEBINAR SERIES DISCOUNTS:
purchase 5 webinars – get 10% off
purchase 10 webinars – get 15% off
purchase 15 webinars – get 20% off

For information and to register for one or all webinars here. Hope you can join us!

Manuscript submitted!

February 10, 2013 | by Naomi Sachs

Healing garden at McKee Medical Center in Loveland, CO. Photo courtesy of BHA Design

Sorry for the lack of blog posts over the last couple of weeks. Clare Cooper Marcus and I were in the throes of finishing the manuscript for our book, Therapeutic Landscapes: An Evidence-Based Approach to Designing Healing Gardens and Restorative Outdoor Spaces, to be published by John Wiley in Sons in October.

More details to come as the date gets closer, and I plan to post excerpts from time to time.

Here is one, something submitted by a TLN member and quoted in the book:

Having spent many weeks in the hospital left an indelible imprint on the way I experience pain, suffering, and loss within the recognized healthcare environment. Surely this fear and anxiety that one feels in this controlled and somewhat clinical building can leave one feeling more vulnerable, fragile, and scared. Just by being outside and with nature, to smell and touch the plants, reduced the depression and dread. I think more positive thoughts, am hopeful, and if I cry I feel the plants understand and do not judge or cringe.

We’ve been having great discussions on Linked In and Facebook and we generally post recent news and upcoming events there, so if you haven’t yet joined those conversations, please do!

To learn more about BHA Design’s McKee Medical Center, visit their website.

The Warrior and Family Support Center – A green haven in San Antonio, TX

November 10, 2012 | by Naomi Sachs

Last month, I had the privilege of seeing the Warrior and Family Support Center (WFSC) in San Antonio, Texas. Three other Texas A&M classmates (an MArch student and two MLA students) and I drove the 3.5 hours from College Station to visit the WFSC and the Center for the Intrepid (CFI), both on the Fort Sam Houston campus. The Center for the Intrepid offers the full spectrum of outpatient care for veterans and “wounded warriors” – active military personnel – who have returned from Iraq and Afghanistan with severe injuries such as limb loss, burns, and traumatic brain injuries (TBIs). Patients are also treated for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). The three missions of CFI include patient care, education and training, and research. Like all major military medical centers, the Brooke Army Medical Center at Fort Sam Houston includes Fisher Houses, a place for the entire family to stay while patients are going through treatment and rehabilitation.

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Roger Ulrich keynote at Gardens in Healthcare Conference

September 6, 2012 | by Naomi Sachs

The Children’s Garden at Legacy Health, Portland, Oregon

Gardens in Healthcare: Rehabilitation, Recovery, and Restoration
Friday, Sept 21, 8 a.m. – 4 p.m.
Legacy Emanuel Medical Center, Lorenzen Center
Portland, OR

Dr. Roger Ulrich, a behavioral scientist who is widely known for his research on the impacts of healthcare facilities on medical outcomes, will be the keynote speaker for a one-day conference on Friday, September 21, at Legacy Emanuel Medical Center (Portland, OR). Ulrich and others will address the use of gardens in healthcare settings to promote better outcomes for patients, improved effectiveness for staff and a safer care environment for both.

A large and growing body of evidence indicates that the physical environment impacts patient stress, patient and staff safety, staff effectiveness, and the quality of care provided in healthcare settings. Increasingly, healthcare design is guided by rigorous research linking the physical environment of hospitals to patient and staff outcomes. Like “evidence-based medicine,” where clinical choices are informed by research, healthcare design, too, is being guided by quantitative and qualitative research. Legacy Health System in greater Portland has nearly a dozen healing gardens between its five facilities. These gardens provide a physical space in which patients, family, and healthcare staff may use with specific and purposeful ends in mind.

The Portland conference is suited to therapists, physicians, administrators, nurses, facility staff, and design professionals. By the end of the day, attendees will be able to 1) describe three benefits of gardens for patients, families, visitors, and staff; 2) summarize two research studies to support gardens in healthcare; and 3) outline processes (strategies) to promote interdisciplinary planning, programming, and evaluation of setting-specific gardens

The registration form provides details about conference programming, fees, continuing education credits, and accommodations. For more information, contact Teresia Hazen at thazen@lhs.org or 503-413-6507.

To learn more about the Legacy Health gardens visit, www.legacyhealth.org/gardens.

HEALTHCARE DESIGN Conference – A wealth of sessions related to Access to Nature

July 18, 2012 | by Naomi Sachs

Desert Botanic Garden, Phoenix, AZ. Ottosen Entry Garden. Photo courtesy of Desert Botanic Garden

Desert Botanic Garden, Phoenix, AZ. Ottosen Entry Garden. Photo courtesy of DBG, www.dbg.org

HEALTHCARE DESIGN Conference
November 3 – 6, 2012
Phoenix, AZ
Early bird registration ends 7/27
Click HERE to register and for more details

The annual HEALTHCARE DESIGN Conference looks great this year, with a plethora of education sessions related to access to nature, including one with me and two awesome colleagues:

Tuesday, 11/6 from 8:00 a.m. – 9:00 a.m.
Environmental Standards Council—The Case for Access to Nature in the 2014 Guidelines for Design and Construction of Healthcare Facilities
Naomi Sachs, ASLA, EDAC, PhD Student in Texas A&M’s College of Architecture in the Center for Health Systems & Design
Jerry Smith, Owner and Principal, SMITH\GreenHealth Consulting, LLC
Alberto Salvatore, Principal, Salvatore Associates

Through recommendations for the 2014 ‘Guidelines for Design and Construction of Healthcare Facilities,’ The Center for Health Design’s Environmental Standards Council (ESC) proposed language and substantiating evidence for incorporating access to nature as one of the key elements in the Environment of Care. Quantitative and qualitative research indicates access to nature is an essential design component to the health and well-being of patients, visitors, and staff. This presentation will include an overview of the Guidelines and a look at proposed revisions to the Guidelines that will allow regulatory agencies to more strongly support the inclusion of meaningful outdoor spaces in future projects.

Listed below are all of the other sessions, in chronological order, that look like they would be of interest to TLN members. These are just sessions that jumped out at me as I scanned the list. Others may also touch on access to nature, so look at the full program to go into more depth. If you see any I’ve missed, please leave a comment.

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Keep Calm and…

July 2, 2012 | by Naomi Sachs

A little over a month ago, I moved from the lush, verdant Hudson Valley in New York to the hot world of College Station, Texas (haven’t been here long enough to use any more adjectives than that). I’ll be starting the PhD program at Texas A&M University’s College of Architecture in the fall, focusing on (surprise!) access to nature and evidence-based design. TAMU’s Center for Health Systems and Design, founded by Roger Ulrich, is one of the best in the country. I’m excited, as well as daunted, by this new adventure.

In the meantime, I’m settling in and spending most of my time writing a book on therapeutic gardens in the healthcare setting with co-author Clare Cooper Marcus, to be published by John Wiley and Sons in 2013.

Many people, when I tell them about this new direction (which isn’t new, it’s just going deeper into what I already do) ask what will happen to the Therapeutic Landscapes Network. I can assure you, the TLN website, blog, and community will remain active. Blog posts may change shape, they may become more sporadic, they may include more voices from guest bloggers. This all remains to be seen. In the meantime, keep calm; the TLN is alive and well and we’re as committed and excited as ever to “connecting people with information…people…nature.”

Stay tuned for the next TLN Newsletter, available free to all TLN members. Click on this link to sign up: www.healinglandscapes.org/resources/newsletter.

Please join us on Linked In, Facebook, and Twitter to connect and share information, questions, and ideas with the thousands of fantastic people in our Network.

All the best,

Naomi Sachs
Founding Director, Therapeutic Landscapes Network

(Image courtesy of the Keep Calm Shop: http://www.etsy.com/people/KeepCalmShop)

Happy National Nurses Week!

May 8, 2012 | by Naomi Sachs

Jacqueline Fiske Healing Garden, Jupiter Medical Center, Jupiter, FL. Photo courtesy of Studio Sprout

“So never lose an opportunity of urging a practical beginning, however small, for it is wonderful how often in such matters the mustard-seed germinates and roots itself.” – Florence Nightingale

Let’s hear it for nurses!

If anyone knew the value of fresh air and access to the outdoors, it was Florence Nightingale (1820-1910); her birthday is on May 12th, and National Nurses Week began on May 6th.

Therapeutic and restorative gardens in hospitals and other healthcare facilities are not just for patients and visitors. Staff can benefit just as much – and sometimes even more. The outdoors is a critical place of respite where people who deal with life-and-death situations can go, by themselves or with colleagues, to take a physical, mental, and/or emotional break. Whenever possible, healthcare facilities should provide separate garden spaces for staff. This separation of space for different users with different needs can be as important as the space itself. Even a view of the outdoors has been found to benefit staff, for example by reducing stress and improving alertness (which, of course, benefits the patients as well!). (more…)

Evidence-based Design Accreditation and Certification (EDAC): Why it matters

April 17, 2012 | by Naomi Sachs

Rooftop garden, Dublin Methodist Hospital, Dublin, OH. Photo by Brad Feinknoph for Karlsberger

In yesterday’s blog post, I discussed my plans to pursue a PhD that would focus on access to nature and evidence-based design in the healthcare setting, and I promised to go into more depth about EBD today. For even more information and resources, please visit the TLN website’s page: www.healinglandscapes.org/resources/ebd.

A large and growing body of evidence attests to the fact that the physical environment impacts patient stress, patient and staff safety, staff effectiveness and quality of care provided in hospitals and other healthcare settings. Basing healthcare facility planning and design decisions on this evidence to achieve the best possible patient, staff and operational outcomes is what evidence-based design (EBD) is all about.
The Center for Health Design

In EBD, research generally refers to empirical research, the systematic investigation of the tangible facts aimed at gaining knowledge, making discoveries, testing and revising theories, and applying new knowledge…What differentiates EBD from the traditional design approach is the emphasis on using research to support design decision making and evaluation of design innovations.
An Introduction to Evidence-Based Design: Exploring Healthcare and Design (EDAC Study Guide 1), p. 72.

I recently took (and passed) the Evidence-based Design Accreditation and Certification (EDAC) exam, the culmination of the Center for Health Design’s program to educate and certify individuals in using an evidence-based approach for the design and construction of healthcare facilities. (more…)

News from the TLN – A note from the Director

April 16, 2012 | by Naomi Sachs

Live oak, College Station, TX. Photo by Naomi Sachs

I knew it had been a long time since the last TLN Blog post, but I didn’t realize until yesterday that it’s been almost a month. I think we are also overdue for our monthly TLN e-Newsletter (if you’d like to receive the free newsletter, sign up here).

The big news is that I have been accepted into the PhD program in the College of Architecture at Texas A&M University. I will be focusing on – you guessed it – therapeutic landscapes, in the Center for Health Systems & Design. The faculty there is unbelievable, the students are top-notch, and the scholarship that comes out of the Center is excellent. The big draw for me is that several Architecture professors focus on access to nature (see, for example, Susan Rodiek’s Access to Nature DVD series). So it’s a great fit, and I’m excited about pursuing the missing piece of my puzzle: Research on how nature – wild and designed – affects people’s health and well-being. Learning how to conduct original research, write about it, and teach others will, I hope, make a contribution to the growing field of evidence-based design (stay tuned for the next post which focuses on EBD) to not just advocate for therapeutic landscapes but to answer specific questions about how we can best design spaces that benefit even the most vulnerable populations.

The TLN website and community will remain active, but will probably undergo changes as I transition from full-time TLN Director and part-time landscape designer to full-time doctoral student. I am in conversation with our Advisory Board about how to make this happen. Support from TLN members who can donate funds and/or time will be essential (if you would like to donate now, please visit our Support page; no amount is too small…or too big). The conversations we’ve been having on Linked In and Facebook have become so dynamic, fulfilling the “connecting people with people” part of our mission and vision.

I will also be moving from my home of almost 7 years in the verdant Hudson Valley to College Station, in Central Texas. This will be quite the change of scenery. I was fortunate last week to see the Texas Bluebonnets and Indian paintbrush in full bloom together, a breathtaking sight. Above is an image of a noble Live Oak in one of College Station’s parks.

Thanks to all of you for putting the “N” in the TLN. Like a good, well-tended tree, this is truly a strong Network, getting stronger and more vibrant all the time. I look forward to continuing our work, in whatever way takes shape, in the years to come. In the meantime, stay tuned for more blog posts as I pack boxes and prepare to move!

– Naomi Sachs, ASLA, EDAC
Founding Director, Therapeutic Landscapes Network