The Center for Health Design Blog

Designing for the Silver Stampede

I read two articles recently about the “Silver Stampede” — coined by H&HN writer Geri Aston in her December piece to describe the influx of elderly patients hospitals can expect in the next 30-40 years as the number of Americans 65 and over double.

Aston asked if hospitals “have the staff and protocols necessary to provide high-quality care for older, often medically complex patients?” And if “they have the processes and relationships in place to safely transition these patients to the appropriate post-acute setting and to provide a care continuum?”

She also points out the Affordable Care Act has some provisions that could “spur transformation in geriatric care” because of Medicare payment penalties for excessive readmissions and healthcare-acquired conditions. Aston goes on to describe steps hospitals should be taking to address staff, protocol, and process issues in order to handle an increasingly elderly patient population.

And issue she doesn’t address is whether hospitals have designed their facilities to accommodate an aging population — one whose eyesight, hearing, mobility, and cognitive abilities may not be what they once were.

So, another step I’d add in order to prepare for the Silver Stampede is to consider the risks the built environment poses to the special needs of seniors. Something like an environmental audit may be in order.

For example, could the flooring, other surface materials, and lighting cause tripping and falling? Does the surface materials have acoustical properties to reduce noise, which causes agitation and sleeplessness? Is there good signage and other visual cues to help people not get stressed out about finding their way around?

Of course, many of these design considerations don’t just benefit the elderly, as research done by The Center for Health Design — and others — points out.

That’s why I believe a universal design approach is needed — why just focus on one patient population when all could benefit? Do seniors want to go to a geriatric ED? Or do they just want to go to the ED?

What do you think?

Call for Nominations: Changemaker Award

Here’s to the crazy ones. The misfits. The rebels. The troublemakers. The round pegs in the square holes. The ones who see things differently. They’re not fond of rules, and they have no respect for the status quo.

And while some may see them as crazy, we see genius. Because the people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world, are the ones who do.

You may recognize these words from Apple Computer’s 1997 “Think Different” TV ad, which featured clips of 17 iconic 20th century personalities, including (in order of appearance): Albert Einstein, Bob Dylan, Martin Luther King, Jr., Richard Branson, John Lennon (with Yoko Ono), Buckminster Fuller, Thomas Edison, Muhammad Ali, Ted Turner, Maria Callas, Mahatma Gandhi, Amelia Earhart, Alfred Hitchcock, Martha Graham, Jim Henson (with Kermit the Frog), Frank Lloyd Wright, and Pablo Picasso.

The commercial ends with an image of a young girl opening her closed eyes, as if making a wish.

Why am I telling you this? Because we’re looking for people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world of healthcare design for The Center for Health Design’s annual Changemaker Award. Crazy may be a little extreme, but you get the point.

So, if you know of someone who you think has pushed the status quo and sees things differently, nominate him or her to be this year’s Changmaker. It can be anyone who is involved in healthcare facility design, construction, research, education, or advocacy — but it has to be someone or some organization who’s work has had national impact.

Nominations are due March 9. Click here for more details and to fill out an online submission.