Abstract
Designing healthcare environments is challenging with its complex technology-intensive environments, ever evolving interaction between people and the environment, and conflicting needs of the different stakeholders with the greatest challenges being centered at the human level. There is growing evidence on effect of the built environment on health outcomes and well-being. The patient-centered approach addresses the need for active engagement and interaction with patients and family to integrate their needs into design decisions. Design participation methods in architecture and healthcare design traditionally use walking tours, photo-elicitation and mock-ups at different stages of the design process. Some of the challenges healthcare researchers face in the pediatric environment in particular are the gate-keepers due to ethical issues of working with a vulnerable patient population and using parents/adults as proxy for the children. The patients’ voice is needed in design mock-ups, simulation, and feedback to meet functional and emotional affordances, and to address equity and behavioral health through design that resonates equitably with children and parents to supporting enhanced individual and collective experiences. Children have participated in healthcare design with varying roles, degrees of involvement and methods. We speculate that art and immersive online environments (IVE) offer an opportunity to engage with the end-users (hospitalized children) to actively participate in conversations on the design of a supportive and healing environment; where the children are given creative freedom to interact with digital content in 3-D, to experience and interact with art and design, and participate in conversations with designers on their needs, perceptions, and preferences.
Presenters
Haripriya SathyanarayananStudent, PhD (Architecture) | Designated Emphasis in New Media, University of California Berkeley, California, United States
Details
Presentation Type
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session
Theme
New Media, Technology and the Arts
KEYWORDS
CHILDREN, HEALTHCARE, EXPERIENCE, IMMERSIVE VIRTUAL ENVIRONMENT TECHNOLOGY, ENGAGEMENT, DESIGN PARTICIPATION
