I've been thinking a lot about the past lately.
That's because I've been preparing for a presentation Sheila Cahnman and I are giving at the Healthcare Design Conference + Expo on Monday, October 7 titled, "Trend or Fad? Anticipating Changes that will have the Greatest impact on Healthcare Design."
We'll be looking at some design innovations over the past 20 years that have had a lasting impact, as well as ones that have faded over time. And we'll be discussing some emerging design strategies that may turn into long-term trends or be short-term fads.
It's been kinda fun digging into this topic.
Ideas & Concepts That Are Still Emerging
As Healthcare Design 2024 approaches, I also thought it might be kinda fun to look at what topics people were presenting 20 years ago at the 2005 conference at the Fairmont Scottsdale Princess resort in Arizona (remember that hot exhibitor tent?).
Here are four ideas from that conference program that are still emerging trends today:
- "The Brain, the Mind, and Healthcare Facilities Design" by John Paul Eberhard, FAIA, Executive Director, Academy of Neuroscience for Architecture. And we thought designing for brain health and neurodiversity were new ideas.
- "Today's Material, Tomorrow's Garbage: Taking Responsibility for Material Purchase, Use, and Management in a Healing Environment" by Janet Brown, Partner Coordinator, Hospitals for a Healthy Environment (now Practice Greenhealth). We didn't call it embodied carbon footprint back then, but that's what this is about.
- "Sustainability in Action: Progress Report from the Green Guide for Healthcare Pilot," by Walter Vernon, PE, Mazzetti & Associates; Scott Slotterback, Kaiser Permanente; and Adele Houghton, LEED AP. Measuring the track record for sustainable design in healthcare is now all about getting to net-zero.
- "Wellness as a Business Strategy," by Janet Faulkner, AIA, Principal, Callison Architects (now part of Arcadis). It only took a pandemic to make hospital and health system leaders prioritize creating physical environments that support staff health and well-being.
Come to Our Presentation
If you're attending HCD, please come to our presentation on Monday, October 7 at 9:30 a.m. If you can't make it, I'll probably do a blog post about it after the event.
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