COVID-10, Healthcare Interior Design + Provider Experience - How does your space work for you?

The lack of research on healthcare staff experience and interior design of the spaces they work in is evident. A focus on staff perspective is needed, particularly staff who navigated the COVID-19 pandemic. This research seeks to capture those stories to develop further research in order to improve staff experience. The initial phase of this mixed-methods approach is a survey. Hypothetically, by placing providers at the center of qualitative research related to healthcare interior design, we can better understand existing healthcare spaces. Ideally, we can develop additional evidence-based, human-centered solutions to transform interior environments in healthcare. The 20-year Women’s Health Study generated essential data on women’s health, but most importantly, the initial research has snowballed into 600+ research reports and continues to feed research that has made an indelible impact on women’s health (About the Women’s Health Study, n.d.). In the same vein as the Women’s Health Study, this research documents provider experience with interior space and may lead to new healthcare design research. In the long term, the qualitative, grounded-theory approach may lead to remediation of our healthcare spaces by applying transdisciplinary design solutions developed through the research. Grounded theory research “sets out to discover or construct theory from data” (Chun et al., 2008). This grounded-theory survey is entitled, “COVID-19, Healthcare Interior Design + Provider Experience – How does your space work for you?” Participants are providers working in any level of healthcare with any level of experience. The survey questions allow the provider to identify specific components of their space. Additionally, they were offered the opportunity to share a story about their relationship with their interior work environment during the COVID-19 pandemic. Healthcare staff’s ability to write about their interior environment experiences will offer additional clues about healthcare space and future research.https://scholarscompass.vcu.edu/gradposters/1149/thumbnail.jp

The Institute for Storytelling & Healthcare Design Research

STORYTELLING, HEALTHCARE, INTERIOR DESIGN EDUCATION & GROUNDED THEORY RESEARCH: THE TRIFECTA OF TRANSFORMATIONAL CHANGE IN HEALTHCARE DESIG

Resisting Sleep Pressure:Impact on Resting State Functional Network Connectivity

In today's 24/7 society, sleep restriction is a common phenomenon which leads to increased levels of sleep pressure in daily life. However, the magnitude and extent of impairment of brain functioning due to increased sleep pressure is still not completely understood. Resting state network (RSN) analyses have become increasingly popular because they allow us to investigate brain activity patterns in the absence of a specific task and to identify changes under different levels of vigilance (e.g. due to increased sleep pressure). RSNs are commonly derived from BOLD fMRI signals but studies progressively also employ cerebral blood flow (CBF) signals. To investigate the impact of sleep pressure on RSNs, we examined RSNs of participants under high (19 h awake) and normal (10 h awake) sleep pressure with three imaging modalities (arterial spin labeling, BOLD, pseudo BOLD) while providing confirmation of vigilance states in most conditions. We demonstrated that CBF and pseudo BOLD signals (measured with arterial spin labeling) are suited to derive independent component analysis based RSNs. The spatial map differences of these RSNs were rather small, suggesting a strong biological substrate underlying these networks. Interestingly, increased sleep pressure, namely longer time awake, specifically changed the functional network connectivity (FNC) between RSNs. In summary, all FNCs of the default mode network with any other network or component showed increasing effects as a function of increased 'time awake'. All other FNCs became more anti-correlated with increased 'time awake'. The sensorimotor networks were the only ones who showed a within network change of FNC, namely decreased connectivity as function of 'time awake'. These specific changes of FNC could reflect both compensatory mechanisms aiming to fight sleep as well as a first reduction of consciousness while becoming drowsy. We think that the specific changes observed in functional network connectivity could imply an impairment of information transfer between the affected RSNs

Customer emotions in service failure and recovery encounters

Emotions play a significant role in the workplace, and considerable attention has been given to the study of employee emotions. Customers also play a central function in organizations, but much less is known about customer emotions. This chapter reviews the growing literature on customer emotions in employee–customer interfaces with a focus on service failure and recovery encounters, where emotions are heightened. It highlights emerging themes and key findings, addresses the measurement, modeling, and management of customer emotions, and identifies future research streams. Attention is given to emotional contagion, relationships between affective and cognitive processes, customer anger, customer rage, and individual differences