Part Two - Office of Construction and Facilities Management

type of disability. Then define veteran- and family-centered needs for these
various demographics and identify specific spatial, environmental, technological,
and other conditions for meeting these needs. Examples include:
• Higher natural light levels in patient/resident rooms to help decrease
depression, improve sleep and circadian rhythms, and ease pain among
amputees returning from war, in combination with ample room space for
families and friends to gather and healthcare teams to conduct rounds.
• Walking paths and exercise rooms to promote active behaviors for
patients/residents and families.
• Use of information resources to improve veteran education and
awareness with respect to their conditions and procedures/tests they are
undergoing.
• Use of technology, such as real-time bedside video conferencing,
MyHealtheVet (MHV), and Home-Telehealth to increase frequency of
veteran-provider communication (between in-person visits) and veteranfamily/provider-family
communication while veteran is in residence,
thereby strengthening the veteran-provider, veteran-family, and providerfamily
relationships.
• Use of technology to enable patients/residents to gain greater control over
room environment (via bedside control terminal for light, heating, humidity,
entertainment and communications systems) and to obviate the need to
move patients out of room for testing (via portable medical imaging and
diagnostic tools that can be brought into the patient room).
• Use of color, colorful fabrics, and artwork to create familiar surroundings
for the veteran and family, combined with music and aromatherapy to
induce relaxation.
• Rooms designed for private, sit-down conversations between providers,
veterans, and families, facilitating provider presence and patient-provider
trust-building.
Recommendation B, Provider- and Staff-centered Care: Explore how
design of all VA healthcare, mental health, rehabilitative, residential, and
long-term care facilities can influence staff satisfaction, caregiver burnout,
and the staff experience of care delivery.
Consider establishing and defining segments that encompass different VA
employee demographics and employee specialties, such as physical medicine
and rehabilitation, orthopedics, primary/ambulatory care, mental health providers,
case management clinicians, and chaplains. Special attention should be given to
the fact that the average age of nurses and other staff in hospitals has been
increasing in recent years. Consider providing continuous staff training in new
forms of team care. Finally, consider defining and executing a plan to assess the
needs for these various demographics and identify specific spatial,
environmental, technological, and other conditions for meeting these needs.
Examples include:
FINAL DRAFT Part 2-13
June 2009