Business Accent

Designing Children's Healthcare Facilities

Playrooms and playgrounds equipped for infants and toddlers, school-age children and adolescents provide an area of amusement for children

"Murals with images such as clouds, butterflies and horses are painted on the walls and ceilings to comfort patients and their families" - Gaurav Chopra

Blaring code alarms, antiseptic smells, cold floor tiles, whitewashed walls and harsh lighting used to be the greeting for sick boys and girls entering children's hospitals of the past. Hospitals were designed solely to meet the needs of the caregiver - not the patient and their families.

Today's children's medical facilities are focusing on transporting kids and their parents and siblings into a world of healing, caring and learning. From the entry to the patient rooms, the hospital's focus should be clear - children and their families come first.

Care Issues

A comfortable, safe and inspiring setting can ease the tension of a family visit to a health facility. Parents are clear in their specifications for new building needs. According to them, the healthcare facility should provide adequate space for the child and family throughout various stages of diagnosis, treatment and recovery.

The design should address the questions raised by parents including, "Is my child in a facility that accommodates their most important needs as well as the needs of the family?" Communicating with staff is also a main concern. Parents want an environment that allows them to learn about their child's condition and the best possible treatment. Design concerns also address wayfinding in the facility, providing easy access from department to department.

The following are aspects of design as defined by the needs of the child, their parents and family, hospital staff and community.

Children's Special Needs

A children's hospital should be designed to comfort the fears of a sick child and their parents - from the exterior to the entryway and throughout the interiors.

Hospital Entryway

A playful, positive image should be established at the hospital entryway. An intimidating structure can become friendlier through the use of strategically placed topiary animals, play area and child-friendly design elements.

Interactive Play Areas

Interactive activities are one of the ways a hospital can convey a sense of playfulness. A multitude of senses are heightened through interactive child-size keyboards, computer-animated games and internet access. Interior play areas should include space for children of all ages - from beanbag theatres to active play zones. Exterior areas include a range of sporting elements, children of all ages are encouraged to be active. Hospital amphitheaters, hosting special guest appearances, have also served to bring a child closer to family, siblings and the community.

Room for Kids

Today's paediatric rooms are designed to promote healing through a mentally stimulating environment. Many rooms include under-counter refrigerators and microwaves as well as hook-ups for computers and wireless Internet access. Tack surfaces for personal photos, cards, etc., provide an area of encouragement and entertainment. All medical equipment is carefully concealed in millwork and storage units, creating a non-medical environment.

Appealing Colors

Innovative and creative design strategies are being utilised, calling upon color and nature to promote a healing atmosphere for children while meeting the medical and technological needs of physicians and healthcare professionals. Murals with images such as clouds, butterflies and horses are painted on the walls and ceilings to comfort patients and their families.

Lighting the Way

Studies continue to prove that lighting has a direct effect on patient wellness. Today's facilities are planned with natural lighting in the forefront of design. Overhead lighting has been replaced by strategically located indirect cove lighting - reducing the strobe effect felt by children being transported on stretchers.

Wayfinding for Kids

It is important to provide children with a sense of awareness of their surroundings - even if they are not responsible for directing themselves between hospital locations. Low-level signage with appealing shapes and colors can provide a child with a sense of familiarity. Due to the numerous clinical areas, some hospitals have developed a color and symbol code system. The colorful symbol serves as a passport stamp for patients.

Feel at Home

Parents feel as intimidated by hospital surroundings as their children. This feeling is combined with a sense of loss of control. Parents look to hospitals to focus on the needs of their child while keeping in mind the desires of the family.

Family Interaction Areas

Separate rooms provide comfortable, quiet group meeting areas. The rooms are designed to accommodate large family groups outside of normal waiting hours.

Providing Food Storage

Due to ethnic diversity, especially in a country like India, food storage and preparation must also be taken into consideration when designing a children's healthcare facility. The food storage and preparation areas allow the family to create and prepare dietitian-approved meals as they would if they were at home.

Creating Play Areas

Playrooms and playgrounds equipped for infants and toddlers, school-age children and adolescents provide an area of amusement for children and their siblings.

Areas for Small Children

For the parent who is also taking care of an infant, crib areas are being made available as well as other accommodations such as breast pumps and infant changing areas.

Providing Health Promotion

Training facilities play a major part in the role of educating parents and siblings. Information centers/libraries are designed within the healthcare facility.

Keeping Hospital Staff Inspired

Hospital staff looks to designers to provide flexible, efficient space within a colorful, cheerful and motivating environment.

Developing Open, Friendly Nurses Stations

A decentralised approach is being applied when planning nursing stations - versus the central nursing area of the past. Decentralised nursing stations, located in various areas throughout the floor, allow a direct line of sight from each room. Supplies, medications, lines and nourishment items are located nearby - not behind nursing stations - allowing less through-traffic disruptions and limited travel distances.

Privacy between Staff

Consideration for privacy between staff is designed into today's facilities. Private areas allow staff to discuss medical issues with the parent - without the child or outsiders overhearing. Areas are also designated to allow medical conversations between staff and academic discussions with interns.

Patient Room Bedside Work Areas

The caregiver area of today provides full-service accommodations in each room including a hand-washing sink, work surfaces, standardised clinical support for accessing and entering clinical information and a telephone.

Outdoor Areas

Staff is also provided areas of leisure without patients, parents or other family areas. The space allows staff members to read a book, eat lunch or simply relax.

Community Spirit

Arts, science, geography and nature elements are integrated into the facility through organisations such as the local art museum, public zoo and area colleges and universities.

Heading Into the Future

Today's children's hospitals are demonstrating the ability to plan and design with the child and family in the forefront. Through the forward thinking of the nation's children's facility healthcare providers, consultants and designers, healthcare facilities will continue to promote safety, health and family support.

The writer is Practice leader South Asia Region HKS India
gchopra@hksinc.com