Family in Focus

One of the key things that one realizes in training is that we very often treat whole family units. When you are treating persons who have elements of frailty, their loved ones become all the more critical to their care and to plans that help move patients toward better health. Thus supporting families/loved ones to feel at place in the clinical environments helps develop better plans that have more chance of successful implementation with our patients,” according to Dr. Anthony J. Perry, MD, clinical transformation officer at Rush University Medical Center in Chicago. 

The Institute for Patient- and Family-Centered Care, a nonprofit organization founded in 1992, defines patient- and family-centered care as “an approach to the planning, delivery, and evaluation of healthcare that is grounded in mutually beneficial partnerships among healthcare providers, patients, and families. Patient- and family-centered practitioners recognize the vital role that families play in ensuring the health and wellbeing of infants, children, adolescents, and family members of all ages” (Source: The Institute for Patient- and Family-Centered Care).

The core concepts of this model of care are as follows:

Respect and dignity. Healthcare practitioners listen to and honor patient and family perspectives and choices. Patient and family knowledge, values, beliefs, and cultural backgrounds are incorporated into the planning and delivery of care.

Information sharing. Healthcare practitioners communicate and share complete and unbiased information with patients and families in ways that are affirming and useful. Patients and families receive timely, complete, and accurate information in order to effectively participate in care and decision-making.

Participation. Patients and families are encouraged and supported in participating in care and decision-making at the level they choose.

Collaboration. Patients and families are also included on an institution-wide basis. Healthcare leaders collaborate with patients and families in policy and program development, implementation, and evaluation; in healthcare facility design; and in professional education, as well as in the delivery of care. (Source: The Institute for Patient- and Family-Centered Care)

Using the Rush University Medical Center new hospital building—slated for completion in early 2012—as a case study, we can examine how the basic tenets of patient- and family-centered care can be incorporated into the design of hospital buildings. As designers, it is critical for us to recognize the vital role that the family can play as part of the care delivery team to help aid in the patient’s healing process. The family’s involvement in the patient’s care can ultimately help to shape the floor plan of the unit as well as the design of the patient room.

Patient unit and room design with family in mind

The Rush University Medical Center’s new hospital building is a 14-story, 806,000-square-foot building that incorporates a five-story curvilinear bed tower on top of a clinically focused building base, which houses surgical, diagnostic, and therapeutic services. The iconic butterfly shape of the bed tower is truly the result of an “inside-out” approach to design, in which the interior functions and delivery of patient care helped influence the shape of the building.

According to Perry, “We have created patient care units with natural work flows for the staff that keep them in close proximity to the patients. We feel this is key to helping patients and families feel connected to their staff and safe in our environment. In doing this, we also have worked to maintain local and functional spaces near the patient rooms where staff can interact with each other to maintain mentoring relationships amongst staff that are also critical to their ongoing development and job satisfaction.”