PART 1

Today I’m joined by the wicked smart, funny and talented Sara Parsons, Principal at Gallun Snow – a nationally recognized interior design firm that specializes in healing, learning and community environments. She says, “As convenience junkies here in the States, I’d bet that by the year 2040, we’re going to have more healthcare on our terms.” Sara shares how the future of preventative wellness will be integrated into the shopping experience and what designers need to know to be prepared for the changes in healthcare already underway. Learn more about Sara Parsons and Gallun Snow Interior Design by visiting http://gallunsnow.com.

Thank you to our industry partner The Center For Health Design! Learn more about how CHD can support your firm by visiting: http://healthdesign.org.

And to the American Association of Healthcare Interior Designers, thank you for your support of this program. Enhance your professional credibility by earning the Certified Healthcare Interior Design credential. Visit AAHID.org for more info.

In part one of this episode you will learn:

• What healthcare design will look in the year 2040 from Sara’s perspective and what changes are already underway that support her theory.
• The growth of consumer based medical care and how this will affect patient centered care.
• The growth of mixed use spaces will help busy Americans get the wellness prevention they need, and revolutionize healthcare and wellness as we know it today.
• What current projects Sara and Gallun Snow are working on in collaboration with HKS and BSA Life Structures and common goals to create a “uniform” design.
• The new healthcare design idea of creating a landing location in a community so the intellectual property of the specialist can come and go to benefit the community without the building having to be uniquely outfitted to each speciality.
• The advantages of building your brand in an aesthetic way.
• How to select art in a healthcare setting that is specific to a region and a patient demographic.
• The importance of going to the community (where the healthcare space is built) and finding what resources are local.
• The stories Sara overheard about the artwork in a healthcare space Gallun Snow designed from the end users of the building.

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PART 2

In the second part of my conversation with the talented Sara Parsons, Principal at Gallun Snow, Sara discusses the importance of artwork, color and furnishings in the behavioral and mental healthcare setting. She says, “The evolution of the design in behavioral and mental health facilities is exciting right now because there are finally options that don’t look like a prison aesthetic.” I’m excited to share the second part of our conversation now. Visit http://gallunsnow.com to lean more about Sara Parsons and Gallun Snow Interior Design.

Thank you to our industry partner The Center For Health Design! Learn more about how CHD can support your firm by visiting: http://healthdesign.org.

And to the American Association of Healthcare Interior Designers, thank you for your support of this program. Enhance your professional credibility by earning the Certified Healthcare Interior Design credential. Visit http://aahid.org for more info.

In part two of the episode you will learn:

• How focused listening to the client and a deeper understanding of the culture of the end users in a building leads to the most impactful of design details in a hospital or healthcare space.
• How to take a lesson learned on a previous project and apply it to your current one.
• How young Sara was influenced by her rehabilitation physician Dad’s story about a quadriplegic patient in the rehab hospital.
• Sara’s recommendations to new designers just starting out or those in the field or existing interior designers who want to move into the healthcare design space.
• What makes the design of a healthcare space successful for Sara.
• How to balance the needs of the healthcare provider with the patient and their family support systems through the design of a space.
• What it was like for Sara to be a designer when ADA laws were first passed and how that influenced a historic preservation of a project.
• Understanding the challenges of the people that Sara (and her team at Gallun Snow) design for is the fun part of healthcare design for Sara.
• The millennial generation is the generation that is most focused on making a difference and why this is important to the field of healthcare design.
• The evolution of the design in behavioral health is exciting right now because there are finally options that don’t create a prison aesthetic in the mental health setting.
• According to the National Institute of Mental Health, 1 in 5 adults in the US experience mental illness in their life in any given year. 1 in 25 adults experiences serious mental illness in the United States, in any given year.
• What patients need most in mental and behavioral health facilities is empathy, understanding and comfort, and not just removing potential dangers from the environment.