Designing better healthcare environments: Interprofessional competencies in healthcare design

Abstract

There has been considerable interest in bridging educational programs in the United States across healthcare, architecture, industrial design, and human computing disciplines to design more effective and safer healthcare environments. New combinations of professionals including those outside the traditional healthcare disciplines are coming together to solve quality and safety problems and to re-envision the physical and social design of healthcare organizations. Little is known about the knowledge and skills essential to integrate these diverse perspectives and pose innovative solutions. A set of seven interprofessional competencies were identified through review of the literature, interviews of faculty and leaders in the field, and experience of the authors teaching interprofessional courses in healthcare design. The relevance and feasibility of these competencies were assessed through expert review by faculty and consultants and implementation in multiple courses.

Keywords:

• Interprofessional
• competencies
• healthcare design
• education

Acknowledgements

The authors gratefully acknowledge the members of our Expert Panel and Think-Tank for their insights and many contributions to the development of these competencies: David Allison, AIA, ACHA (Clemson University), Jamil Alshraiky, MS (Arizona State University), Charles Andrews (Emory Healthcare), Myra Aud, PhD, RN (University of Missouri), William Bornstein, MD (Emory Healthcare), Anselmo Canfora, MArch (University of Virginia), David Chen MS, MBA (University of Virginia), Deborah Craig Conway, MSN, RN (University of Virginia), David Cowan, MSHS (Georgia Institute of Technology), Ellen Yi-Luen Do, PhD (Georgia Institute of Technology), Michael P. Farrell, PhD (University of Buffalo), Colleen Galambos, PhD, MSW (University of Missouri), Anand Gramopadhye, PhD (Clemson University), Kirk Hamilton, FAIA, FACHA (Texas A & M), Ann Hendrich, MS, RN, FAAN (Ascension Health), Ken Hepburn, PhD (Emory University), Sabir Khan, PhD (Georgia Institute of Technology), Mary Jo Kreitzer, PhD (University of Minnesota), Kathie Krichbaum, PhD, RN (University of Minnesota), Marsha Lewis, PhD, RN (Emory University), Kathy Malloch, PhD, RN, FAAN (Arizona State University), Abir Mullick, PhD (Georgia Institute of Technology), George Nussbaum, PhD, RN, CNOR (Uniformed Services University), Madeline Schmitt, PhD, RN, FAAN (University of Rochester), Mardelle McCuskey Shepley, MArch, AIA, ACHA (Texas A & M), Roy Simpson, MS, RN, FAAN (Cerner Corporation), Jaynelle Stichler, DNSc, RN (San Diego State), Linda Wanzer, MSN, RN, CNOR (Uniformed Services University), Claudia Weingarden, PhD (Georgia Institute of Technology), LuAnn Wilkerson, MD (UCLA), Michael Young, PhD (University of Connecticut), Terri Zborowsky, PhD, RN (University of Minnesota & Ellerbe Becket). We also gratefully acknowledge grant support from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation for this work.

Declaration of interest: The authors report no conflicts of interest. The authors alone are responsible for the content and writing of the paper.