The
patient bathroom is part of a larger collaborative
effort between Carleton University School of
Industrial Design, Clemson University School
of architecture and the Spartanburg Regional
healthcare system to design and build a new
hospital which provides a positive patient experience.
The bathroom was required to be accessible by
a large range of patients with various physical
and cognitive abilities, keeping in mind the
needs of nurses who assist the patients. In
order to determine an appropriate design two
occupational therapists and two nurses were
spoken to for their insights and feedback. The
design was tested in a full scale model by fifteen
subjects ranging from 21 to 71 years old, all
with different physical abilities. The final
bathroom design was presented to the administrator
of the new hospital in South Carolina and the
design will be implemented in 48 hospital rooms
at the “Village hospital at Pelham”.
