These health care researchers will share the results of their Transforming Health Care, One Project at a Time research initiative. In this effort, postoccupancy evaluations were conducted for several recently completed facilities. The researchers will describe the connections they found between planning and design decisions and how the completed built environments function. This session will enable you to-
• Explain three of the postoccupancy findings of this research that demonstrate the relationship between planning and design decisions and the built environment in terms of patient safety and satisfaction.
• Conduct in-house postoccupancy evaluations using the model provided to identify areas for improvement in the planning and design phases of future projects.
• Develop an effective planning and design process, using information from the presented research, to facilitate the creation of health care physical environments that function as intended and support high-quality patient care.
• Discuss strategies, as shown in the research, for gaining support from senior staff for effective planning to ensure optimal health care environments.