Behavioral Healthcare

'Don't Bring Me a Problem, Bring Me a Solution'

When I asked her how her agency was getting along, she spoke of the challenge of delivering community mental health services in the face of continued, dramatic cuts in state and county funding. [...] as one of our jurors explained, "Good design doesn't have to be expensive."

Tools for Transforming Facilities

Recovery environments don't adhere to the "low stimulation" concepts that often guide the interior decorating plans of behavioral health facilities. If we are really going to promote wellness, we need to serve healthy food in our facilities and reach the people who use our services how to prepare it - which means we need enough cooking space to teach. [...] get rid of all the places that staff members go to in order to get away from the people being served - even private offices. Bringing ...

Design for Health and Human Services Showcase

ACUTE PSYCHIATRIC CARE FACILITY Cannon Design BALTIMORE, MD Essex County Hospital Center - Institute for Mental Health Policy, Research and Treatment CEDAR GROVE, NJ Built on an 1 1 -acre sloping site, the new Essex County Hospital Center's Institute for Mental Health Policy, Research and Treatment- a 1 80-bed acute psychiatric care facility- replaces a turn-of-thecentury era healthcare building that, although architecturally striking, had become outdated and technically Insufficient, with li...

Transitional Healing

According to the U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs, successful treatment of PTSD and other war-related mental health injuries must be treated promptly. Scientific research in the last two decades established a direct link between poor health, such as anxiety, depression, high blood pressure, and an increased need for analgesic drugs, and inadequate or psychologically inappropriate physical environments.2 Healthcare today embraces mis evidence-based design research and the positive impact an...

Leed: It's Just Good Design

While low- VOC products such as paints and carpeting contribute to the air quality, introducing fresh air to the indoor environment is also important. Because of this, the facility's ample windows can be controlled both by patients and staff for access to fresh air.

New Needs Drive Renovation

[...] when strategic planners evaluated the staffing, clinical, financial, and marketing demands of Livengrin s continued growth, along with the daunting costs of updating the aging dormitories into comfortable, patient-centered rooms, they decided to build new. Philadelphia advertising executive Standisti Forde Hanscll, who picked up the farm parcel from the school in 1963. retained those bedrooms as he fashioned tlie property into a "retirement getaway" where suburban gentlemen could play ...

Built to Look Good, Built to Last

According to experts, institutional furniture incorporates thoughtful design with material, construction, and finish features that malee it easy for owners who appreciate its value to maintain its appearance, comfort, and safety over an extended lifespan at a minimum of cost. What are the behavioral or health concerns involved?' While questions like these help to narrow the field among various designs and styles of furniture, the key to understanding the long-term durability and value of a p...

Design in a Down Economy

Bill Rostenberg (Principal and Director of Research at Anshen + Allen), Susan Lipka (Associate VP, Capital Planning and Management Services at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center), and Scot Latimer (Senior Partner and National Director - Healthcare Services at Kurt Salmon Associates) put their respective knowledge and expertise together to present the Healthcare Design magazine and Vendôme Group-produced webinar, Form Follows Finance: [...] Latimer says that while the expectati...

E-Prescribing: Coming Your Way Soon

In many behavioral health situations, clinicians are the dominant users of the EHR, creating and updating patient histories, diagnoses, treatment plans, and progress notes. "The drug database support that supports e-prescribing can be effectively used by no ? -medical clinical staff, like case managers who see the consumer more often, to better understand possible interactions and consider whether new symptoms represent real problems or possible drug side effects that a doctor, or multiple p...

U.S. 'Way Behind' On Clozapine's Benefits

According to Herbert Y. Meltzer, MD, Professor of Psychiatry at the Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, leading economists have cited underuse of clozapine for treatment resistance and suicide as one of the two greatest failures of mental health providers to practice evidence based medicine. According to Morrison, "CRI and the Knowledge Network, working in partnership with experts in research, policy, and technology, are positioned as national leaders to close the gap that currently ex...

Back to Old Roots with a New Facility

Having spent the last few years of her career as the executive vice president of clinical programs and practice at the University Hospital Network, Zahn is excited to again serve a familiar patient population of which she is particularly passionate about at CAMH.