Center for Health Systems and Design

Drs. Ulrich and Donovan: Health Benefits of Nearby Nature

Portland Memory Garden

Portland Memory Garden, Portland, OR. Photo by Patty Cassidy

Health Benefits of Nearby Nature
Drs. Roger S. Ulrich and Geoffrey Donovan
Thursday, September 12, 2013, 7 – 9 p.m.
Portland State University’s Hoffmann Hall
1833 SW Eleventh Avenue, Portland, OR

Many evidence-based researchers, Dr. Roger S. Ulrich among them, have found that purposefully-designed gardens in healthcare settings improve health outcomes for patients. But did you know that there is a quantifiable relationship between the presence of trees and public health? In his research, Dr. Geoffrey Donovan has found that to be the case. Both Ulrich and Donovan will talk on the Health Benefits of Nearby Nature, Thursday September 12 , 2013 at Portland State University in Portland, Oregon.

Ulrich has found that patients who view “representations” of nature can also find relief from stress and discomfort. For example, heart surgery patients at a Swedish hospital intensive care unit experienced reduced anxiety and less need for pain medication by looking at pictures depicting trees and water.  Over the years, Ulrich’s work has received many awards and has directly impacted the design of billions of dollars of hospital construction, and improved the health outcomes and safety of patients worldwide.  The Sweden-based professor and former director of the Center for Health Systems and Design at Texas A&M University,  developed a Theory of Evidence-Based Design; his theory has become influential as a scientifically grounded guide for creating successful healthcare facilities. Ulrich will discuss his recent work involving the effects of single- versus multi-bed patient rooms on infection transmission; the negative impacts of hospital noise on patients and nurses; and how nature, gardens, and art can lessen pain, stress, and healthcare costs.

Ulrich’s co-presenter, Dr. Donovan, is a research forester with the USDA Forest Service who has quantified a wide range of urban-tree benefits. These have ranged from intuitive benefits— for example, reduced summertime cooling costs—to less intuitive benefits such as crime reduction. His recent findings on the relationship between trees and public health, for instance, show that mothers with trees near their homes are less likely to have underweight babies. He has also shown a connection between trees destroyed by invasive pests and a higher human death rate from  cardiovascular and lower-respiratory disease.

Register online for Health Benefits of Nearby Nature.

EBD Boot Camp – Boot Camp for Evidence-Based Design

EBD Boot Camp

It’s back to school! On September 12-14, the Texas A&M Center for Health Systems and Design will hold a two-day work session on evidence-based design. EBD Boot Camp is a practical interactive work session that will give design professionals, developers, researchers, and others the practical experience of applying relevant evidence in their work.

Led by Texas A&M experts, the September Boot Camp is the first of four work sessions sponsored by the Center for Health Systems and Design. Another fall EBD Boot Camp session takes place October 24-26; two more sessions will follow in 2014, February 6-8 and March 20-22. The organizers describe the hands-on workshop in this way:

This is not a superficial conference presentation about theory. It is a unique, no-nonsense, limited attendance and hands-on work session using relevant evidence to develop the real project on your desk.

Want to learn how to incorporate evidence-based design into your work?  Bring a current project and learn how to use and integrate relevant evidence through a hands-on, interactive work session with expert guides.

WHERE:
Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas

WHEN:
September 12-14, 2013 or October 24-26, 2013

REGISTRATION:
$1700 per person, $1450 for each additional person – same firm. Limited to 8 attendees per session.

FACULTY:
D. Kirk Hamilton, FAIA, FACHA, EDAC
Mardelle Shepley, D.Arch, AIA, LEED AP, EDAC
James W. Varni, PhD
Susan D. Rodiek, PhD, NCARB, EDAC
Zofia Rybkowski, PhD,LEED AP
Xuemei Zhu, PhD
Zhipeng Lu, PhD

OPEN TO:
Architects, Landscape Architects, Engineers, Designers, Project Managers, Researchers, Technology Experts, Librarians, Developers, and Building Owners

CERTIFICATE:
Attendees who complete the EBD Boot Camp, perform the assigned work and pass the review exam will receive an Advanced Practitioner Certificate from the Center for Health Systems & Design at Texas A&M University.

For more information contact Judy Pruitt at(979) 845-7009 or jpruitt@tamu.edu. To register, click here. For more information, read the EBD Boot Camp flier.