Why Patient-Centered Built Environment Standards Matter More Than Numbers of Beds in Inpatient Psychiatry

This article canvasses extant literature about values, evidence, and standards for inpatient psychiatry units' design. It then analyzes apparent trade-offs between quality of care and access to care using empirical and ethical lenses. From this analysis, the authors conclude that standards for the built environment of inpatient psychiatric care should align with patient-centeredness, even if a downstream consequence of implementing new patient-centered designs is a reduction in beds, although this secondary outcome is unlikely.