Flexibility during the covid-19 pandemic response: Healthcare facility assessment tools for resilient evaluation
Artikel i vetenskaplig tidskrift, 2021

Healthcare facilities are facing huge challenges due to the outbreak of COVID-19. Around the world, national healthcare contingency plans have struggled to cope with the population health impact of COVID-19, with healthcare facilities and critical care systems buckling under the ex-traordinary pressures. COVID-19 has starkly highlighted the lack of reliable operational tools for assessing the level sof flexibility of a hospital building to support strategic and agile decision making. The aim of this study was to modify, improve and test an existing assessment tool for evaluating hospital facilities flexibility and resilience. We followed a five-step process for collecting data by (i) doing a literature review about flexibility principles and strategies, (ii) reviewing healthcare design guidelines, (iii) examining international healthcare facilities case studies, (iv) conducting a critical review and optimization of the existing tool, and (v) assessing the usability of the evaluation tool. The new version of the OFAT framework (Optimized Flexibility Assessment Tool) is composed of nine evaluation parameters and subdivided into measurable variables with scores ranging from 0 to 10. The pilot testing of case studies enabled the assessment and verification the OFAT validity and reliability in support of decision makers in addressing flexibility of hospital design and/or operations. Healthcare buildings need to be designed and built based on principles of flexibility to accommodate current healthcare operations, adapting to time-sensitive physical transformations and responding to contemporary and future public health emergencies.

COVID-19

Assessment tool

Hospitals

Flexibility

Evaluation

Healthcare facilities

Författare

Andrea Brambilla

Politecnico di Milano

Tian Zhi Sun

Politecnico di Milano

Waleed Elshazly

Politecnico di Milano

Ahmed Ghazy

Politecnico di Milano

Paul Barach

Politecnico di Milano

Thomas Concrete Group

Sigmund Freud PrivatUniversität

Göran Lindahl

Chalmers, Arkitektur och samhällsbyggnadsteknik, Byggnadsdesign

Politecnico di Milano

Stefano Capolongo

Politecnico di Milano

International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health

1661-7827 (ISSN) 1660-4601 (eISSN)

Vol. 18 21 11478

Ämneskategorier

Produktionsteknik, arbetsvetenskap och ergonomi

Hälso- och sjukvårdsorganisation, hälsopolitik och hälsoekonomi

Miljöanalys och bygginformationsteknik

DOI

10.3390/ijerph182111478

PubMed

34769993

Mer information

Senast uppdaterat

2021-11-11