Courtesy of PhilipsRens van MierloTOO SICK TO MOVE A MUSCLE? What a
load of nonsense. The latest data, however,
show that most of you reading these words
will not escape illness. And I’m not just talk-
ing about a touch of flu.
‘Unfortunately, cancer and cardiovas-
cular disease are still the most likely causes
of premature death and most probably will
remain so in the future,’ says Jos Stuyfzand,
senior creative director at Philips Design
Healthcare. ‘Technologically, from a medical
point of view, a lot is possible, but real pro-
gress is made by looking at the environment
in which healthcare is provided.’
The challenges facing Stuyfzand
and his multidisciplinary design team are
complex. They have to determine the needs of
the hospital staff – how can a space facilitate
optimal performance, accurate diagnostics
and quality treatment? – as well as the expe-
rience of the patient. The more emotionally
supported a patient feels, the quicker their
recovery. The team has to contemplate the
wants and needs of the individual, and per-
sonalization plays an important part in this.
They must also consider cultural conventions
and customs. In the Middle East, for instance,
the family room is a must. The fact that all
these concerns simmer within a pressure
cooker of cost-efficiency (time is money) only
adds to the stress. To be successful, design-
ers need close collaboration with hospital
organizations and with experts in medical
workflow planning, technology, operation
and, last but not least, what Stuyfzand calls
‘people researchers’ – in order to better
understand both the functional requirements
of a space and, especially, the emotional
needs of patients, relatives and staff.
Stuyfzand attended Design Academy
Eindhoven, where he learned to make a good
product. The starting point was usability.
When he joined Philips – working first at
Philips Lighting and, for the past eight years,
at the company’s HealthTech Division, now
the company’s core strategic focus – his
attention shifted from a product’s usability to
its performance. ‘Talking about good lighting
no longer meant talking about the design
of a product but about whether the lighting
effect creates the right atmosphere – about
Ambient Experience solutions aimed at
using technology to influence the human
perception of spaces,’ he says. Although the
impact of lighting has been a hot topic for
well over a decade, and although ‘ambience’
is an immaterial notion, the use of lighting
remains prominent in the design of clinics
and hospitals. How do patients experience
each moment, from intake process and
admission to treatment and aftercare? How
can a designer make sure that every space, »A concrete vision of the future is Philips’ Reading Room 2020,
a tool for exploring how technology-enabled healthcare
environments can improve patient care and clinical workflow.
136 HEALTHCARE