Washington, D.C. (July 12, 2010) – The American Academy of Healthcare
Interior Designers (AAHID) and Nurture® by Steelcase have announced the
recipient of the 2010 AAHID / Nurture Graduate Research Fellowship as Chia-Hui
Wang.
The purpose of the program is to promote the importance of interior design
research and to contribute to the body of knowledge for healthcare interior
design, consistent with the mission of AAHID. It also reflects Nurture’s mission
through research and evidence-based design to change the way people experience
healthcare environments.
The fellowship is designed to assist new investigators in initiating the
research aspect of their education by providing seed money to afford graduate
students the opportunity to pursue new or novel areas of research. Earlier this
year, Nurture and AAHID announced that Nurture has agreed continue its support
of the Graduate Research Fellowship for the next five years.
Chia-Hui Wang, M. Arch, LL.M., the 2010 AAHID / Nurture Fellow, is a doctoral
student in the School of Architecture, University of Illinois at
Urbana-Champaign. In Taiwan, she works as an assistant professor in the
Department of Architecture, Hwa-Hsia Institute of Technology, where she teaches
courses in both architecture and law. She also co-teaches the Architectural
Design of Healthcare Organizations course at Taipei Medical University.
Ms. Wang is one of the pioneers performing evidence-based design research in
the field of healthcare architecture in Taiwan and the author of over 60
publications, including journal articles, conference papers, and technical
reports. Her research interests include healthcare architecture, long-term care
facility design, and justice architecture. Ms. Wang’s research will focus
on finding the best practice of designing nursing stations. She will explore the
effects of physical design, specifically in terms of an innovatively designed
decentralized nursing station, on staff communication as well as patient
outcomes, which, ultimately, will improve communication and patient outcomes in
acute care.
"We are very pleased to award this fellowship to such an outstanding
candidate," said Jocelyn Stroupe, President of AAHID. "The significance of the
proposed research study by Ms. Wang, her qualifications, the clarity of her
goals and her potential to make significant contributions to our industry in the
future really made her the right choice in the selection committee’s mind."
"Nurture is excited to partner with AAHID and participate in this wonderful
program," said Phyllis Goetz, Global Director of Nurture by Steelcase. "Nurture
strongly believes in evidence-based design and thorough research to better
healthcare environments and we believe that Ms. Wang’s research will further
that effort."
AAHID and Nurture will assist Ms. Wang in the development of her research and
design exploration and the award is intended to support the recipient by
providing funds to cover educational and necessary expenses during 2010.
About AAHID
The American Academy of Healthcare Interior Designers certifies the knowledge,
skills and abilities of healthcare interior designers. Board Certified
Healthcare Interior Designers are distinguished and qualified by education,
examination and work experience to practice healthcare interior design. The
AAHID appellation recognizes excellence, commitment and knowledge. It further
distinguishes preeminent healthcare interior designers from other architects,
designers, decorators and interior designers. AAHID promotes research of
healthcare interior environments and seeks collaboration opportunities to
develop improved products for healthcare interiors with Industry Partners.
About Nurture
Nurture by Steelcase is a company focused on healthcare environments and how
products within these environments can help make them more comfortable,
efficient and conducive to the healing process. For more information, visit
www.nurture.com.
