Designing a rehabilitation center is fundamental to establishing a facility that supports therapy, medical care and other healing treatments. With healthcare options continually evolving, it is vital to consider how rehabilitation center design can play a more integral role in the recovery journey. A thoughtful design also aids the center’s operational efficiency and ensures that the facility is compliant with local building codes and healthcare standards.
How your company plans for and designs a rehabilitation center can impact everything from patient satisfaction to the quality of service provided by the staff, which shows how valuable these beginning stages of your design efforts are.
How to Build a Rehabilitation Center
Building a rehabilitation center is a major undertaking. Consider the following core points when exploring how to start a rehabilitation center:
- Set your team’s objectives: The primary focus should be on building a functional space that makes patients feel supported and comfortable and staff members feel equipped and valued.
- Have a thoughtful design: An intentional, meaningful design can help create a sense of purpose and comfort for patients — which was an element not commonly seen a couple of decades ago. Without the right foresight and intentional design elements, the center could have a cold, institutional feel your team may want to avoid.
- Consider how to prioritize comfort: Physical comfort and safety are vital elements for making guests feel cared for. Secure rooms, comfortable beds, well-maintained furniture and quality shared amenities can all help provide patients with a sense of hope. While patients are there to recover, it is imperative that they be able to do so in a dignified, positive space.
- Have the needed legal support: Before proceeding with your design, it is wise to speak to legal professionals. A legal team can help your company with zoning and compliance with local building codes and safety standards.
Once the fundamentals are established, your team can follow these steps for effectively designing a rehabilitation facility, from selecting the right site to exploring patient-centric designs.
Select a Site for the Rehabilitation Center
One of the first steps in rehab design is to explore sites where your company can establish a facility with all possible amenities and features. If possible, find a site that is spacious enough to offer solitary rooms or areas that provide elements of privacy, common spaces for fostering connections, therapeutic spaces, medical rooms and facilities for visitors. Look for a site with ample space for versatile outdoor areas so you can incorporate the therapeutic benefits of time outdoors.
To help streamline the site selection process, you might consider conducting market studies to establish the primary demographic the facility will serve so your company can choose the best location for the facility. Other factors involved in choosing a good site include:
- Privacy: Your company may want to consider a site that offers privacy for patients and their families. Placing the rehabilitation center in the middle of a busy street in a busy city may deter potential patients.
- Pleasing views: Sites with scenic views or a lot of outdoor space with natural features are preferable. Natural features allow spaces for meditation, reflection and quiet time. Studies also show the benefits of natural outdoor spaces for healing and recovery.
- Zoning: Ensure that the rehabilitation center will be located in an area with the right zoning laws. Your team can contact your local town planner to explore what type of zoning a rehabilitation site would need.
- Strategic location: The site’s proximity to medical facilities and transportation is crucial, as patients may require emergency medical intervention at different stages of their recovery. The center must be accessible and close enough to hospitals that patients can receive immediate medical care when needed. Additionally, your company may also want to avoid being in close proximity to similar centers to eliminate unnecessary competition.
- Parking: The site must offer ample space for accessible parking areas for staff, patients, guests and ambulances in the event of medical emergencies.
Consider Accessibility Features
The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) ensures people of all abilities have the same opportunities and rights. Designing a facility that is accessible and inclusive of all patients’ needs is therefore essential, and doing so helps ensure your operation is compliant with ADA recommendations when building a rehabilitation center.
The following design considerations can help your team achieve ADA compliance in constructing the new center:
- Remember to closely follow the official ADA Standards for Accessible Design.
- Review the site plan to identify barriers to accessibility. Barriers can include areas with poor lighting, doorknobs that are difficult to grasp, counters or tables that are too high for mobility device users, and doorways or passages that are too narrow for people using wheelchairs and other mobility devices.
- Consider how your team can design an accessible facility. Good practices include installing waterproof entryways, ramps, elevators, accessible parking, wider entrances and pathways, tactile signage, low-resistance door handles and light switches that are easy to reach.
Design Outdoor Spaces for Rehabilitation
Outdoor areas are a crucial part of rehabilitation center design, as they can provide interactive spaces for both individuals and groups. The outdoor area should also be a calming space that incorporates as much of nature as possible in its design to capitalize on the therapeutic benefits of being outdoors. These benefits include reducing feelings of depression, stress and anxiety, which can significantly aid recovery. Exposure to fresh air and sunlight also improves sleep, mood and physical health.
With a quality outdoor area, patients have a space for sensory stimulation, including natural sounds, scents and sunlight, and gain the following benefits:
- Outdoor areas provide a space for physical rehabilitation. Patients will be able to use the space for various forms of exercise, including walking and even gardening.
- Ample outdoor space supports community building and group activities. Fostering these activities and promoting community time is beneficial for strengthening skills like communication and teamwork.
- The aesthetic appeal of access to natural outdoor spaces helps improve quality of life for patients undergoing extended rehabilitation.
A significant part of designing outdoor areas is making them usable year-round, regardless of the weather. USA SHADE Waterproof Shade Structures make an excellent contribution to a rehabilitation center’s outdoor design. These structures are functional, durable and versatile. Your organization can use the shade structures for parking lots, recreational spaces and entryways that allow easy access to various parts of the facility. This capability is especially helpful for facilities that will have several freestanding buildings that patients, staff and visitors use.
A shade structure also helps create a sense of privacy, which can be very challenging to navigate and balance during recovery. With shade structures, your team ensures that outdoor areas are open and accessible while still providing a covered area that acts as a private oasis.
The Permian Basin Rehabilitation Center is an excellent example of outdoor design using shade structures. This center collaborated with KDC Associates to develop a unique, whimsical design for the outdoor area using 4-Point Hypar Sails from USA SHADE. The goal was to help take the patients’ minds off of therapy and create an outdoor area that would shelter them from the hot Texas sun. In succeeding, KDC Associates designed a unique shade concept that now stands out as an example of an exemplary outdoor therapy design.
Prioritize Sustainable Design Principles
The aim of sustainable design in health care facilities is to create structures that improve patient experience while building facilities that minimize environmental impact. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), health care facilities — including rehabilitation centers — can adopt a number of strategies for sustainability.
Some of the WHO’s suggested ways to enhance sustainability include minimizing and properly managing the use of hazardous chemicals and waste on-site, exploring ways to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and air pollution, and managing resources efficiently. Your organization can also prioritize sustainable design by considering how your business can incorporate solar power and energy-efficient appliances.
Another unique way to focus on sustainable design is through biophilic design or architecture, which is an approach that aims to connect a building’s occupants with nature. Various ways that design teams can incorporate biophilic design principles include:
- Highlighting natural landscapes with scenic views and outdoor areas that are functional year-round by using waterproof shade structures.
- Including green spaces and vegetation like a veggie patch that patients can use for gardening.
- Using sustainable building materials for outdoor amenities.
Plan Patient-Centric Layouts for Optimal Care
Your company’s layouts and plans can be more patient-centric by focusing on a salutogenic design. A salutogenic design prioritizes structures that make people feel healthier and happier. In the late 1970s, medical sociology professor Aaron Antonovsky explored the impact of stress and lifestyle on health. He coined the term salutogenesis, which roughly translates to “health origins” in Latin and Greek, and expanded on his idea of the salutogenic model that focuses on positive health through feelings of optimism, coherence and control.
In the 1970s, architect Alan Dilani posited that the method could be applied to areas outside of medical treatments — namely, to health care facility designs — which can naturally be applied to rehabilitation centers.
It is believed that a salutogenic design can create a sense of comprehensibility, manageability and meaningfulness in structures:
- Creating a sense of comprehensibility in design: These are design elements that help ensure the rehabilitation center is easy to navigate. Your company can apply these principles by having an intuitive layout with clear signage. Your designs can also enhance the feeling of orientation by prioritizing natural light and extensive views of nature.
- Driving a sense of manageability: The right design can also help empower patients with a sense of manageability. Incorporate spaces that are flexible and serve multiple needs — for example, a library houses resources while doubling as a quiet, meditative space where patients can reflect and relax.
- Creating spaces with a sense of meaningfulness: Explore ways to design personalized spaces that drive community and foster purpose during a patient’s stay. Designers can make spaces feel more personalized by incorporating inspirational art that resonates with patients and their healing journey.
Design for Efficient Staff Workflow
Patient-centric planning is essential when designing a rehabilitation center, but that does not mean the design will neglect functions that support the administrative needs of staff.
Ensuring the clinical staff have facilities that support efficient workflow and the daily needs of patients is key. Staff facilities, including meeting rooms, restrooms, and break rooms, can be an integral part of your team’s design. The staff must also be provided with adequate space for storing and organizing medical accessories and equipment, medication, and paperwork. The placement of essential rooms and equipment for operational flow is also vital so that these resources are readily accessible.
Prioritize Safety Standards and Regulations in Rehabilitation Center Design
Your design cannot be complete without considering safety standards and regulations. All designs must comply with local and national health and safety codes, including local building codes, National Fire Protection Association codes, and Occupational Safety and Health Administration standards.
The center’s plans must naturally include emergency exits, rooms for fire alarms and sprinklers, adequate ventilation, and space for HVAC systems. If possible, plan for special features like slip-resistant flooring and soundproofing as well to secure maximum benefit for your facility.
Choose USA SHADE for Waterproof Shade Structures for Rehabilitation Centers
Another important reminder is that rehab center design is a collaborative effort. Your team’s designers can discuss plans with former patients, staff, building professionals and legal experts to create a facility that serves the community well. Your company can also collaborate with USA SHADE for beautiful, functional outdoor rehabilitation spaces.
At USA SHADE, we are industry professionals who can help your company prepare facilities for patients and guests year-round with our tailored commercial shade structure solutions.
We design and engineer quality waterproof shade structures that can improve the appearance and functionality of your rehabilitation center. With our shade structures for various facilities, including hospitals and other structures devoted to health care, your facility benefits from a long-lasting investment that makes outdoor spaces more comfortable for patients.
Explore our range of products or contact us today to discuss your rehabilitation center’s design with our helpful team.
