A study at Texas Tech University has linked hospital room design to patient safety, according to an article on the Infection Control Today website.
The research showed that effective design may keep patients safer and healthier and shorten their hospital stay.
The study first created likely fall scenarios then created a space representing a typical hospital room and bathroom. Participants hooked up to motion capture technology interacted with the rooms the same way patients would.
Researchers found falls frequently happen as elderly people assumed four types of postures while interacting with their physical environments: pushing, pulling, turning and grabbing.
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