Medical facilities such as fertility clinics or mental health clinics where patients are not required to stay overnight after treatment need to be designed to support workflow efficiency as well as better patient outcomes, says Melbourne-based interior designer and director of Spowers architecture studio, Annie Robinson who is on a mission to change the ‘look’ and ‘feel’ of public day-procedure clinics.
“These can be highly emotional environments for patients, partners, support people, family members and, of course, their medical teams,” Robinson explains. “The application of good design is a powerful way to help humanise these clinical settings and, ideally, provide comfort during periods of high anxiety and stress.”
Designing for efficiency + empathy
Like any workplace, day-procedure clinics need to operate with flow and efficiency, as a primary requirement. To this end, she guides health managers and facility managers to take a ‘day-in-the-life’ approach. “We need to understand how the facility operates, from the moment a clinician or patient enters the clinic – right through to when they leave. This allows us to better comprehend how people move through the space, and then create designs that accommodate those behaviours and support efficient workflow.”
Respecting personal preferences
Robinson does not support the one-size-fits-all design approach. “In day-procedure settings, it’s important to nurture and reassure patients and provide options to use the space in ways that best suit their cultural, physical and personal preferences.” For example, waiting areas should be designed to accommodate both large areas as well as more private, smaller spaces for personal discussions and respite.
Additionally, sensory options should also be integrated within the design of these clinics. She advocates using neuroaesthetic principles, providing people with options to interact with environments that suit them as individuals. These spaces might be low-tech, low-light areas that are private, as well as more brightly lit open spaces. “This enables people to feel more ‘at home’ in the clinic as they’re empowered to make their own choices about where and how they use the space depending on how they are feeling in that moment.”
Embracing outdoor elements, indoors
Advocating the use of biophilia in the design of public day-procedure clinics, Robinson says, “There is considerable research confirming that biophilic design can be influential in the promotion of positive mental health outcomes by reducing stress and anxiety levels, and also by increasing patient recovery responses.”
The Spowers studio is driving the design of these spaces away from environments that feel ‘institutional’ and ‘clinical’, towards designs that will benefit staff and gain better patient outcomes.
Affordable, future-focused design strategies
While the design of private day-procedure clinics may benefit from access to greater resources than their public counterparts, Robinson believes there are effective ways to elevate interior architecture within defined budgets. “Sometimes it can be as simple as colour and material selections,” she explains. “Selection of softer lighting and replacement of ‘task-style’ lighting in non-clinical areas are also simple changes that we consider in our designs.”
“Adaptive reuse is always high on Spowers agenda and rigour around the assessment of existing built assets for reuse and re-imagination, together with clever planning around these assets, will often provide financial benefits, while still delivering the desired outcomes,” she adds.
Another design consideration is patient-focussed tech – user-centric and easy-to-use interfaces that assist with pre check-in, check-in and customising the patient’s ‘day stay’ – even down to the ability to order food and magazines, and schedule therapies, making for a seamless patient-centric experience. This can also provide resource efficiencies in the administrative, operational and procedural aspects of the facility.
