Resources Associated with the 2010 Guidelines for Design and Construction of Health Care Facilities

Sound & Vibration: Design Guidelines for Health Care Facilities

This document is copyright protected and controlled by the Acoustics Research Council; copies can be purchased from ARC.org. As well, a read-only, seachable (but non-downloadable, non-printable) version of the document is available by clicking here.

Patient Handling and Movement Assessments: A White Paper

The PHAMA white paper (pdf) was written by members of the Specialty Subcommittee on Patient Movement of the 2010 Health Guidelines Revision Committee. It provides information that can be used by those responding to the new requirement to prepare a PHAMA as well as by anyone interested in considering use of patient handling and movement eqiupment in a health care facility.

Guidelines for Critical Access Hospitals

A task group of the 2010 Health Guidelines Revision Committee and outside stakeholders drafted guidelines for critical access hospitals near the end of the 2010 Guidelines revision cycle. The draft was posted on this page as a whitepaper from spring 2010 until April 2011 for public consideration. At their April 2011 meeting, the 2014 Health Guidelines Revision Committee approved the draft chapter for inclusion in the public proposal period of the 2014 Guidelines revision cycle. Download the full chapter (pdf) to review. If you have recommendations for revising the text, please submit your proposals through the Guidelines public proposal system.

Resources for Selecting Architectural Details, Surfaces, and Furnishings for Health Care Facilities

This list of resources (pdf) was compiled by two members of the Specialty Subcommitee on Surfaces of the 2010 Health Guidelines Revision Committee. Others are invited to propose additions to the list.

Research Supported by FGI

One purpose of the Facility Guidelines Institute is to fund research that will lead to improvements in health care facility design and construction and in the Guidelines for Design and Construction of Health Care Facilities. Links to published research will appear here as they become available.

Designing for Patient Safety: Developing Methods to Integrate Patient Safety Concerns in the Design Process

The Center for Health Design conducted research, including a seminar, with the purpose of developing consensus around patient safety issues to be considered during the health care facility design process as well as activities, methodologies, and tools for improving facility design in terms of patient safety. The work, described in this report, was funded by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality and the Facility Guidelines Institute.

Contribution of the Designed Environment to Fall Risk in Hospitals

Very little research has systematically examined the relationship between patient falls and built environment characteristics such as room and unit layout, relationship of the bed to the bathroom, or layout and features of the bathroom. The authors of this paper, which was funded by the Center for Health Design and FGI, used cross-sectional analysis of archival fall data from 27 units in 12 hospitals to identify design characteristics associated with greater or fewer falls. Among the characteristics identified are visibility from staff work spaces, presence of a dedicated family space in the room, and bathroom layout and supportive features.

Infection Control Topics

Two articles published in the June 2010 edition of the American Journal of Infection Control report on research that was funded in part by the Facility Guidelines Institute:

• Bartley, J. M.; R. N. Olmsted; and J. Haas. "Current views of health care design and construction: Practical implications for safer, cleaner environments." The role of infection preventionists in health care facility design and construction is discussed in this article, using the 2010 edition of the Guidelines as a basis.
• Memarzadeh, F.; R. N. Olmsted; and J. M. Bartley. "Applications of ultraviolet germicidal irradiation disinfection in health care facilities: Effective adjunct, but not stand-alone technology." This article reviews scientific evidence regarding the use of ultraviolet germicidal irradiation (UVGI) in health care facilities and reports that UVGI should only be used in conjunction with other accepted infection control practices.

Other Resources

The Environment of Care and Health Care-Associated Infections: An Engineering Perspective

This joint ASHE-FGI monograph explores the role of the health care environment in infection prevention and control. In it, Farhad Memarzadeh, PhD, PE, director of the Division of Technical Resources at the National Institutes of Health, describes strategies for addressing infection prevention in health care facilities and discusses the effects of temperature and humidity on the transmission of viruses, bacteria, and fungi. Details are provided on the advantages and potential shortcomings of strategies to reduce health care-associated infections, along with a wealth of background information on the pathogens commonly found in health care facilities today.