Person-Centered Health Care Design

Dak Kopec is an associate professor in the School of Architecture at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. Dak has authored several books used by interior design educators, including three editions of Environmental Psychology for Design. He is a two-time Polsky Prize winner, is credited with researching, developing, and administering the first low-residency graduate program focused on designs for human health at the Boston Architectural College, and has been awarded honorary Fellowship to ASID (Hon.FASID). Dak served as a visiting professor at the University of Hawaii with a joint position in architecture and medicine, was listed as a Fulbright Specialist, and subsequently served two terms as a Fulbright Reviewer. In 2017, Dak won IDEC’s Community Service Award for the design of a group home for people with developmental disabilities and early-onset dementia. Today, Dak is calling upon his diverse educational background in health sciences, psychology, and architecture to promote interdisciplinary and person-centered design.

"Environmental design approaches promoting human-centric solutions engender spaces to improve quality of life. Bridging medical and environmental design, Person-Centered Health Care Design introduces a specialty where designers develop knowledge of anatomy, physiology, and disease pathology vis-a-vis designed environments. The book’s coverage of design’s intersections with health offers a significant foundation across various scales. The book presents crosscutting knowledge to designers focused on preventing health conditions, aiding in rehabilitation, or assisting those with altered capacities due to health conditions, and suggests processes for those expanding their professional skills." Dr. Lynne M. Dearborn, AIA, Professor of Architecture, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign"Person-Centered Health Care Design attends to the necessary point that people vary and healthcare conditions are diverse and that wellness involves physical, psychological, emotional health. It follows that healthcare environment solutions must acknowledge and strategically nurture patients where they are in their healing or health management process. Now more than ever, thoughtful, attendant environments are a prescription for people just as drug and therapy regimens are. Person-Centered Health Care Design importantly links medical conditions with built environment interventions that can lend important support to people in a time of great need." Jill Pable, Ph.D., FIDEC, NCIDQ, WELL AP

• 1. Introducing the Health Care Designer; 2. Evolving Beliefs, Lifestyles, and Diseases; 3. Body Insults; 4. Muscular Disorders, Joint Deterioration, and Skeletal Dysplasias; 5. Autoimmune Diseases; 6. Allergens and Sensitivity Disorders; 7. Chronic Lung Diseases; 8. Acquired Brain Injuries; 9. Sensory Deficits; 10. Cognitive Disabilities; 11. Neurological Disorders; 12. Dementias; 13. Post-Traumatic Stress and Mood Disorders; 14. Psychosis and Neurosis