This year will be the start of a doctoral study to be performed at Södra Älvsborgs Sjukhus in Borås, Sweden in an ICU patient room
ICU patient room
The aim of the project is to study if a holistically designed patient room in a general intensive care unit affects (supports the well-being of) the occupants compared to a traditional ICU patient room. The contribution of the sound environment will be among the key factors to be studied.
The project is funded by Sahlgrenska Academy, at Gothenburg University and collaborates with the Institute of Architecture at Chalmers University.
The project has two main challenges
1. to produce knowledge about issues in a high-tech environment that could be crucial and have a healing effect on people who suffer from severe illness or injury, the ones who visit them, and the staff working there
2. to develop new sustainable methods and products that will improve the ICU patient care environment
Topics to be investigated
– the need for analgesia and sedation drugs
– heart rate
– breathing frequency
– sleep and ICU delirium
– length of stay and staff judgment.
One of the patient rooms will be planned and designed according to special holistic principles, comprising position of technology, furniture textiles, and light and sound environment, whereas another room will remain the same (control room)
Both quantitive (surveys, physiological parameters, protocols) and qualitative (interviews, video recordings, observations) research methods will be used among the project members:
– Högskolan Borås
– Fagerhult
– Input Interior
– Design med Omtanke
– Ecophon
