March 13, 2013 James M. Hunt, AIA, NCARB
Lately I have been noticing on several occasions people admonishing others that something is not being done "the right way". This implies that there is only one way to do that particular thing "right" and that the person speaking is in possession of all possible knowledge about the different ways of doing that "thing" and which is the "right' way in this particular instance.
January 21, 2013 James M. Hunt, AIA, NCARB
Doors between patient rooms and corridors as well as patient bathrooms are frequently used by patients in committing suicide. There are several products available that will detect downward pressure on the top of the door and alert staff to this situation.
December 21, 2012 James M. Hunt, AIA, NCARB
Psychiatric inpatient suicides accounted for nearly ten times more deaths than mass killings (7,500 vs. 774) in five recent years. Yet hospitals still resist making the financial commitment to provide suicide resistant improvements that might help reduce both numbers.
November 14, 2012 James M. Hunt AIA
Current thinking among some leaders in the field of behavioral health care design is now that curtains of all types should be eliminated from the patient environment. This includes curtains at windows, showers and privacy curtains in multi-patient rooms.
October 19, 2012 James M. Hunt, AIA
Should behavioral helath care inpatient room doors have small windows in them? Is it more important for staff to be able to see into a patient’s room from the corridor without opening the door or for patients to have privacy and the ability to shut out light from the corridor?
September 12, 2012 James M. Hunt, AIA
Designers, product manufacturers and health care facilities should be very careful with using absolute terms such as suicide “prevention”, tamper “proof”, “anti”-ligature and similar terms from which a reader or listener may infer that a warrantee or guarantee is being given that there is absolutely no way that a patient could use them to harm themselves.
August 12, 2012 James M. Hunt, AIA
Every facility that admits and treats behavioral health care patients either consciously or sub- consciously determines its level of risk tolerance for a multitude of issues pertaining to its built environment. The sub-conscious decisions may range from simply not knowing that a condition creates a potential safety risks for patients and/or staff to organizations hiding their collective head in the sand and choosing to ignore the threat.
July 16, 2012 James M. Hunt, AIA
Ligature attachment protection below 18 inches above the floor is necessary to resist behavioral health facility inpatient suicides
June 14, 2012 James M. Hunt, AIA
If it is desirable for behavioral healthcare patients to be allowed periods of time in the open air outside the unit, then the issue becomes how do we define the space to which they are to have access and how do we protect against them leaving the area without authorization?
May 11, 2012 James M. Hunt
The Veterans Affairs (VA) Department of Defense (DoD) suicide prevention Evidence Based Practice Working Group (EBPWG) released a new study in March that reviewed the existing literature regarding the validity of risk assessment tools in use in VA facilities.
