A Collaborative Communities-of-Practice Methodology for Environmental Design Research: A Case Study Application in...

Area of Science:

• Healthcare Design Research
• Environmental Psychology in Clinical Settings
• Interdisciplinary Methodologies

Background:

• Environmental design in palliative care is gaining traction.
• Existing research methods often lack interdisciplinary integration and overlook clinician/designer expertise.

Purpose of the Study:

• To describe a collaborative, cross-disciplinary communities-of-practice model for environmental evaluation in healthcare.
• To illustrate its application in a palliative care unit.

Main Methods:

• A co-designed, multi-methods approach involving clinicians, facility managers, and researchers.
• Included scoping review, environmental data logging (sound, temperature, lighting), and co-created surveys.
• Data collected in two phases under ethical approval.

Main Results:

• The model successfully integrated cross-sector expertise and improved contextual relevance of study instruments.
• Enabled real-time, context-sensitive data collection in a high-acuity clinical setting.
• Supported context-aware adaptations beyond conventional research.

Conclusions:

• The communities-of-practice model is a replicable, interdisciplinary method for researching complex healthcare environments.
• Demonstrates capacity to generate actionable insights aligned with patient-centered outcomes in palliative care.
• Vital for aligning health architecture with clinical and human-centered goals.