WASHINGTON – As a member of the High-Performance Building Congressional Caucus Coalition (HPBCCC), the American Society of Interior Designers (ASID) recently hosted a congressional briefing in the Rayburn House Office Building in Washington, D.C., on the topic of evidenced-based design and its ability to improve quality care and to save money and resources.
This discussion is particularly relevant given the pending discussions on government-run health care.
“High-performance buildings address the human, environmental, economic and societal impact of the building, and interior designers play a large role in the process,” says Michael Alin, Hon. FASID, executive director of ASID. “For example, evidence has shown that good interior design in health care facilities has the power to help patients heal more quickly, reduce recovery times, prevent accidents and infections, provide support and comfort to families, and minimize the building’s carbon footprint.”
The HPBCCC’s two co-chairs, Rep. Judy Biggert (R-IL) and Rep. Russ Carnahan (D-MO) provided opening remarks, while Alin served as moderator. He was joined by Rosalyn Cama, FASID, president and principal interior designer of CAMA Inc., and one of her clients, Cheryl Herbert, RN, MBA, FACHE, EDAC, and CEO of Dublin Methodist Hospital in Ohio.
Hospital systems throughout the country are building and renovating facilities that improve health, organizational, economic and sustainability goals through the use of evidenced-based practices. Author of Evidenced-Based Healthcare Design (Wiley, 2009) and chair of the board of directors at the Center for Health Design, Cama presented case studies of health care systems across the United States that have participated in an evidenced-based design field study known as the “Pebble Project.”
Herbert, of the new Dublin Methodist Hospital, was a part of the “Pebble Project” and discussed specific outcomes in the facility’s first 21 months in operation.
For more information on the HPBCCC and the supporting private sector organizations, visit www.hpbccc.org. To learn more about evidenced-based design, go to www.healthdesign.org.
About ASID
The American Society of Interior Designers (ASID) is a community of people—designers, industry representatives, educators and students—committed to interior design. Through education, knowledge sharing, advocacy, community building and outreach, the Society strives to advance the interior design profession and, in the process, to demonstrate and celebrate the power of design to positively change people’s lives. Its more than 40,000 members engage in a variety of professional programs and activities through a network of 48 Chapters throughout the United States and Canada. Go to www.asid.org to learn more.
