effects of a participatory facility design process at a community hospital in British Columbia, The

HD, Feb 2005 by Miller, Aaron, Gamble, Leslie

Staff were asked their opinions as to the size and shape of workstations, location of storage eguipment, what types of equipment, and how best the shape could be modified or improved to meet their needs. This mock-up provided context to the drawings and actual sizes, and shapes of the workstations within the nursing department. By allowing staff to "interact" in the proposed nursing station, they were able to make further suggestions and propose refinements to it.

DISCUSSION

Using the participatory ergonomic process, in addition to evidence-based design, has allowed the architects and planners to create a hospital that both captures and improves the physical layout of the hospital by meeting the needs of the staff. During the participatory design process, the managers, together with the architects and planners, developed the approximate layouts for each department in the early stages, with staff from the design development teams working with the architects and ergonomists providing the intricate details of the layout and how it would best fit their needs.

These macro and micro level suggestions are key to improving the design to make it a better workplace for staff, and a more supportive environment for patients. By designing a facility using this type of process, we can eliminate some problems such as staff injuries and illness, employee turnover, low staff productivity, lengthy patient stays and increased patient medication usage. This will lead to enhanced patient care.

This iterative process has made the staff feel that they have actively participated in the design of "their" hospital. Research has shown that those nurses who feel more involved and satisfied with their job are less likely to report a work-related low-back injury (Marras, 2000) as well as other work related injuries. Coupling this with the ergonomie methods such as the focus groups, interviews, task analysis, and mock-ups to improve upon the architects' drawings, we have attempted to create a safer workplace for staff and a better facility for patients.

CONCLUSION

This project has provided insight into the participatory design process and the elements required for employee acceptance of physical changes that can have psychological and organisational impact on the workplace. Input integrated from experienced front-line staff and management has provided valuable and differing viewpoints as to how to best make the physical changes to the departments.

A participatory approach in the preconstruction phase of a redesign of a community hospital is beneficial in creating a healthy and efficient design tailored to the needs and capabilities of workers. Staff and management were able to provide valuable input into the designs and it was evident that they wanted to be involved in the process. A post-construction evaluation in 2006 will ascertain if the participatory redesign was effective in producing perceived improved departments associated with increased satisfaction by staff and patients.

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