Dr. Xiaobo Quan, the Violeta Autumn Teaching Fellow in the Gibbs Architecture program, recently attended at the 2022 Healthcare Design Conference + Expo hosted by the Center for Health Design and the Academy of Architecture for Health of the American Institute of Architects (AIA/AAH). The international conference, held in San Antonio, Texas, highlighted the latest research, innovations, and strategies in healthcare design. It was attended by designers, researchers, health professionals, over two hundred exhibitors, and more.
Dr. Quan’s presentation focused on his mixed-method research project around the impact of perioperative environmental design on ambulatory surgery patients’ experiences. The project included a qualitative study and quasi-experimental study in order to identify key design considerations at various stages of the patient journey as well as compare three types of surgery suite design.
The results of surveys, interviews, and sound level measurements were triangulated to increase the validity and generalizability of findings. Those who attended Dr. Quan’s session received a first look at the project as well as learned about his recommendations for further design optimization and future research.