The ancient Greeks had it right—creating healing spaces that reduce stress and generate hope are instrumental in the healing process. I like to think that we are continuing the ancient Greeks’ mission though our research, education, and advocacy of evidence-based design (EBD) and the profound effect the built environment has on outcomes. 

You have likely noticed more of your colleagues incorporating EBD into all of their projects and decisions. Individuals as well as organizations are seeing the value of EDAC certification.

Did you know that organizations that commit 25% of their staff to EDAC certification become EDAC Advocate Firms, and have many benefits including discounts on EDAC Study Guides as well as the exam?  

Just recently, the EDAC advocacy movement took an international turn. ArchiMed in Denmark, started by CEO Pernille Weiss Terkildsen, became an EDAC Advocate firm to “be a part of a global network of evidence-based design experts that play a key-role in making the world more sustainable and healthy.”  

ArchiMed employs individuals from many disciplines in the healthcare industry, including architects and healthcare professionals, along with engineers and academics, all with the common goal—designing patient-focused buildings built using evidence-based design principles. 

As an EDAC Advocate firm, ArchiMed committed 25% of its staff to take and pass the EDAC exam within one year.  

“It is important the whole staff understand evidence-based design principles and are able to explain to clients why some hospital designs work better than others,” Pernille told us recently. “Being EDAC certified facilitates EBD discussions and decision-making and is the foundation that provides a shared language in a very complex system of hospitals and healthcare systems.”  

Currently, several “super hospitals” throughout Denmark are now working with ArchiMed to integrate EBD into their design solutions that create/generate strategic end results.

Is it time your organization considered becoming an EDAC Advocate firm? Click here to learn more. 

Julie Kent is passionate about the intersection between operations and space with a focus on improved performance outcomes. Throughout her 12-year career in healthcare planning, Julie has developed a "systems-based approach" to infusing operational planning and evidence-based design into the strategic visioning, master planning, functional programming, and architectural design process. A senior healthcare planner at Eppstein Uhen Architects, Julie works with hospitals of all sizes throughout the U.S. and Canada. Over the last six years, she has volunteered her time to the development of the EDAC program and is currently the EDAC Advisory Council chair.