Hospice Design Manual

INTRODUCTION
 
An in-patient hospice facility is a building in which end of life care is given to seriously ill people, often with only a short while to live.
 
It is a place where these people may die in a dignified manner, with as little pain and discomfort as possible.
 
It is a building in which those who love and care for the patients are welcomed into the facility and encouraged to spend as much time as they need with the patient, to be there with the patient as they die, and then receive continued support to help come to terms with their bereavement.
 
It is a facility in which the dying person may stay involved with their care decisions to the maximum possible extent with the emphasis being on the quality not the quantity of their life.
 
Patients may also be admitted for symptom management, where a patient is under observation during a change in medication, and respite care, where the patient is admitted to give some time off to their primary care givers. Both of these are usually for just a few days, and the patients will often return to the hospice as they near the end of their days.
 
Some hospices offer residential care where a patient, though terminally ill, may live for several months, and will generally have greater mobility and independence than in-patients. 		  Some entire facilities are devoted to residential care, whilst others have a number of rooms allocated for that purpose. Funding requirements may require a number of residential care beds to be allotted.
 
A full support network is required to fulfill this mission with a multidisciplinary team working together.
 
A hospice has to be designed as a building which can efficiently achieve all the operational requirements, be a comforting place for the patients at the end of their life and for their caregivers in their distress, and be a pleasant place for the staff and volunteers to work.
 
Architecture has an incredible ability to affect the moods of those who enter, and for hospice design no tools should be spared to create a built environment which can give the required feelings of comfort and security.
 
The three principal users of a hospice are:
  • Dying patients
  • Distressed friends and relatives
  • Medical and nursing and other staff who have to deal with dying on a daily basis.
This creates a difficult design problem but with careful design, architects can assist tremendously in assisting those in difficult times by providing a building which comforts and delights those who use it.

Hospice Design Manual

HospiceDesign.com | Consulting Services | Hospice Design Manual | About the Author

3254