The Cancer Patient's Perspectives on Facilities Design

This article is a summary of information the author gathered during his AIA/AHA fellowship in 1997-1998. Based on his experience as a student of architecture at Texas A&M University and his experience as a cancer patient, the author takes a look at cancer care through the eyes of both patient and designer. He researches, studies, and analyzes issues pertaining to the patient's environment during treatment. He then develops a consensus of items that can be modified to enhance patient comfort, relieve patient stress, and promote patient healing. The research is broken down into three major areas: (1) existing cancer information—data related to general statistics, definitions, and trends in the treatment of cancer; (2) interviews and surveys of patients and their families, medical professionals, and cancer survivors; (3) site visits to seven of the top-ranked cancer centers in the nation, along with studies of other treatment facilities documented from research performed at Texas A&M University. Smaller, local treatment centers are also studied.