Architecture Commons^™

Community In Crisis: A Reformation Of Behavioral Health Hospitals In Atlanta, Georgia, Niki Crawford

Bachelor of Architecture Theses - 5th Year

Behavioral health hospitals in America are failing to treat their patients with lasting success upon patient release. These facilities appear to be safe, sanitary, and pleasant, but our state behavioral health hospitals in the United States are still cold, stark prisons to those trapped within their walls.

Impersonal and insufficient for caring for those with mental illness, these institutions meant for treatment can do more harm than good at a time when an individual is most vulnerable. Used as holding cells where sedated patients are kept until their crises pass, the spaces are no more than prisons designed to maintain …

Effective Design Features For The Management Of Behavioral Health Patients In General Emergency Departments Of Hospitals, Rheena Ware Luchansky

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study investigated nursing staff members perspectives of their existing Emergency Department (ED) and their ability to care appropriately for behavioral health patients within the environment. The study involved three rural hospitals in eastern Texas that may not always have the proper resources to care effectively for this vulnerable patient population. The researcher administered a paper-based survey utilizing a Likert-scale response system to nursing staff across all facilities and received participation from 56 respondents. Survey questions were designed to investigate the current ED environment and identify design features available to assist with caring for behavioral health patients. Data gathered revealed …