Evidence-based Concept Programs for Healthcare Architecture

This paper describes how new models and tools for planning healthcare buildings is recently developed in Sweden. Their purpose is to facilitate implementation of both evidence and best practice in a collaborative and dynamic planning process. Multi-professional collaboration is a significant part of the planning process in Sweden today. Up to the 1980:s, healthcare planning was centrally managed by a system of norms and standards. Following a general decentralization of the healthcare system in the 1990:s, the overall responsibility for knowledge development and planning of healthcare buildings was transferred to the individual County Councils. A local and dynamic model replaced the normative planning model. Such a model is supportive for innovation in a constantly changing healthcare. A weakness, however, is that individual projects risks be too focused on currently experienced needs and do not use available research and best practice. The dynamic model needs to integrate collaborative planning and local dialogue with systematically processed best practice and evidence-based knowledge. Therefore, an “integrated” planning model is sought for. “Evidence-based Concept Programs” for Healthcare Architecture (EBCP) is a set of planning tools that has been developed by the Centre for Healthcare Architecture at Chalmers in collaboration with PTS-Forum - a national network consisting of 15 (out of 21) Swedish County Councils. EBCP has been developed in cross-disciplinary collaboration between different stakeholders - healthcare professionals, planners, project managers, architects and researchers from different disciplines. EBCP consists of visualized design concepts and explanatory text based on research and best practice. EBCP should be seen as a tool for supporting discussions rather than as solutions to copy. The purpose is to form a basis for the planning dialogue in the collaboration process in each particular project