In recently attending the ASID and IDC Impact Summit 2015: Health + Wellness in the Built Environment at Lake Nona Medical City in Orlando, Fla., it became clear that additional focus on a collaborative approach to programming, planning, and design are more essential than ever to create a successful solution. To date, often health and wellness has been evaluated as a separate component of the designed physical environment. However, in utilizing a framework that evaluates several design considerations, there are many commonalities that also include health and wellness as a desired outcome when utilizing an evidence-based design approach.

One inspiring panel at the Impact Summit included Rosalyn “Roz” Cama, FASID, EDAC, the board chair at the Center for Health Design; Sandra Vance, senior director of interoperability initiatives at HIMSS Innovation Center; and Deborah German, MD, the VP of medical affairs and dean of the College of Medicine of the University of Florida. The topic of discussion was “What is the Future of Intelligent Homes and Communities?” Roz addressed the importance of understanding the research to create innovative design solutions and produce measurable outcomes, and Sandra discussed the need for technology integration —both supporting health and wellness within the built environment. Dr. German would be the ideal client—she was so clear on the need for collaboration to achieve goals for projects within Lake Nona Medical City. One of the questions she asked of the design team when developing building concepts was, “How do we create delight?” Further, she met her goals of changing the paradigm from traditional medical planning to more creative approaches that better support students, practitioners, patients, and staff in planning the facilities on the Lake Nona site—including lifestyle, health, and well-being.

Read more on Interiors & Sources as Jane Rohde recaps the ASID and IDC Impact Summit