Healing with Flooring in Health Facilities

Influence of the Design and the Patient Experience

As healthcare has continued to evolve, it is not just about treatment anymore, it is about providing a healthcare experience that nurtures. Interior designs have also evolved to meet these changing needs.

Like any other industry, the experience focuses on the consumer, or in healthcare’s case, the patient. Ensuring that patient’s wellbeing remains a priority. The design decisions that are made in a healthcare facility influence the health outcomes of patients. Soothing colours, the influence of nature motifs both literal and figurative, and using flooring to define spaces all influence the current day trends.

If a facility has a homey quality and makes them feel comfortable with soothing colours, good lighting, and nice finishes, the patient experience is better and hence the reviews would be better too.

That brings me to think why do we need a hospital, office, home etc to have a specific look? If the Function is met, can’t we use design to influence how the Patient feels in the space, which is feeling at home? Would that add to the healing?

Fortunately, when it comes to inspiration and trends, there is a design convergence underway, and designers are considering spaces that are more soothing and home like to promote a healing effect through design and thus influencing a positive patient experience. Flooring patterns & colours is a way of lifting spirits and lending to the comfort of patients.

For those patients with long-term care or ongoing hospital treatments, bright colours and how they are used can often lift their spirits, especially in the case of children. Medium tone colours can be included in interesting floor layouts: ones that create pathways or interesting shapes for children to follow to treatment areas, or for designated play areas when taking a break. The same can be true for older patients who may have poor eyesight or just need a visual break from the other calming spaces.

Flooring Material Considerations

Flooring for healthcare facilities has a multifaceted job to improve safety, reduce stress, facilitate patient satisfaction, and provide a solid return on investment (ROI) and needs to excel in all these areas:

With numerous areas to accommodate within each facility, it is important to know all you can about hospital flooring options. You will need to consider several factors when choosing healthcare flooring: what areas in the hospital need flooring, what type of flooring is best suited for that area, longevity of a product, durability, and what is required comfort-wise underfoot, aesthetics, point load, and rolling load requirements, cleanability and cost are also critical components in the hospital flooring choice.

While each healthcare facility has its own specific needs and requirements, when it comes to flooring in healthcare applications, a few criteria must be met to comply with the requirements of Health facilities.

Sanitization & Anti-Microbial Properties:: Flooring should be spill-resistant and sealed to prevent microbes and germs from spreading. Ease of maintenance is also critical. Hospital flooring standards are strict for a reason. Surfaces must reject moisture, bacteria, and allergens, and seams must be sealed. You will need the floor flashed up the wall to eliminate the wall-floor gap. The topcoat needs to be thick and resistant to scratching.

In a hospital, emergency room or a specialized nursing facility, this is especially critical for protecting patients who are at risk for infection. Certain flooring systems are formulated to resist microbes, support sanitation goals, and keep your facility clean.

Slip resistance: You need flooring to be stable and slip resistant. Changes in flooring should be smooth without edges or height differences to trip over.

Chemical Resistance: Whether you’re at a facility that requires heavy-duty cleaning or at a lab working with chemicals, your floor should withstand chemical corrosion. Corrosion can lead to serious (and hazardous) damage to your floors that may require costly repairs or lead to an unexpected shutdown. Keep things up and running with a tough, chemical-resistant coating.

Noise absorption: Where patients are trying to sleep and staff is trying to concentrate, a floor cannot echo the sound of every footfall. The flooring should absorb noise effectively.

Factoring in more than just slips and falls is important when it comes to selecting floors that are safe to walk on for healthcare facilities. “This is more than just slip and fall, but also security and comfort underfoot. These all add up for employees of a healthcare facility, as well as patients.”

Safety: Hospitals minimize the risk of falling, but this does not mean it never happens. For flooring should have some allowance to guard against falls, especially in patient areas. Whether through material choice or underlay, the flooring should not be too hard. A bit of give to soften the impact of a fall can make the difference between a bruise and a broken bone. Vinyl and rubber flooring options can reduce this type of impact. As a bonus, they also reduce joint stress on doctors, nurses, and other staff who are on their feet all day. Any dropped equipment is also more likely to continue functioning properly without damage.

Aesthetic: The right flooring for healthcare facilities welcomes people. Patients and families want to feel calmed and reassured. It must also communicate professionalism and cleanliness. Staff need to enjoy working in the area. Color is important, as is the floor’s ability to reflect and amplify lighting , especially where natural light shines in. The floor has to look clean without glare and it must not give people a feeling that they are going to slip.

Environmental Impact: Surfaces must be sterile and promote healing, a floor’s maintenance products and procedures are critical considerations. The industry has responded with several effective “no wax” floor finishes that eliminate the cost and disruption associated with the strip, wax and buff process. The disposal of caustic stripping chemicals in this process has also been eliminated, resulting in a reduced environmental impact.”

Return On Investment: You need the floor to fall within a certain installation and maintenance budget, and it has to last. This means enduring heavy foot traffic, as well as equipment carts and patient transport rolling across it regularly.

Types of Flooring Options for Health Facilities : 

Sheet Vinyl:  Vinyl is a fantastic hospital flooring material choice as it is spill-resistant, durable, and easy to maintain. Sheet vinyl flooring is a better option compared to tiles, as sheet vinyl allows for antimicrobial barriers to be created through heat welding and flash coving and it can accurately emulate many natural looks of wood and stone that are reassuring and calming.

This product generally comes in rolls and 2 to 3 mm in thickness. This allows for a minimal number of seams and this can be a key factor where aesthetics is a concern. Sheet vinyl can be flash coved, which will create a seamless floor that is easy to clean and maintain. This surface is also excellent for repelling microorganisms on their surfaces. Improved durability can endure high-impact and consistent usage without damage. Heat-welded seams prevent water ingress and bacteria accumulation compared to porous grout and carpet fibres.

Rubber:  Rubber is another excellent material. Again, the same rule of thumb applies to rubber as it does to vinyl in a hospital setting. Sheet rubber flooring is resilient, durable, sanitary, easy to seal, impact resistant and absorbs noise, and is available in a wide array of styles. Premium rubber flooring has become very popular in hospital settings. Rubber elevates interiors with seamless installation, unparalleled durability and versatile design possibilities. The dense surface structure of rubber delivers proven strength under pressure, standing up to even the toughest hospital conditions without sacrificing style. 

Vinyl Composition Tile (VCT): VCT is always an economical option. These tiles are a mixture of natural limestone, fillers, colour pigments and a thermoplastic binder. Though the tile is extremely durable, VCT needs stripping, waxing, polishing and is higher maintenance than other vinyl floors and the life cycle costs should also be calculated and considered. 

 Linoleum: Though not as prominent as it was in the past, linoleum is still high on the list for hospital choices. Like rubber, linoleum is a green product made with natural material including linseed oil, cork dust , and jute fiber. This product often stands with rubber to those buyers with environmental sensibilities. Linoleum also has reputable antimicrobial properties to protect against germs. 

Safety Flooring at Operating Theatres: In areas with a high risk of hospital-acquired infections, such as operating theatres, medical laboratories, and cleanrooms, floors must meet the highest hygiene standards to ensure infection control and air cleanliness. To maintain a clean appearance, these floors provide sealed surfaces and fewer joints, and are resistant to stains and chemicals. They also prevent electrostatic discharges, so that the risk of equipment malfunction or discomfort during surgeries is drastically reduced.  

When selecting a floor for cleanrooms & operating theatres ensure the flooring meets the requirements of Infection control and hygiene, Resistant to stains, chemicals and disinfectant, Low airborne particulate contamination, Electrostatic control and Resistant to heavy loads.

To reduce staining in the ORs, select interior finishes that incorporate enhanced stain defense technology. Design operating room for easy repair; a central design element like a circle around an operating table can help make repair much easier. In this design, the only portion of the floor that would likely need replacement is the center circle, which happens to be where the majority of OR stains occur. This design pattern can also apply to other rooms such as ICUs, Patient rooms, Trauma rooms etc.

Terrazzo & Epoxy Flooring:  

Terrazzo is still a desired flooring in many Hospitals due to its aesthetics, seamlessness, impact resistance, slip resistance hygiene and cleanability. Though installation and getting the desired quality is comparatively challenging, this flooring doesn't need much maintenance and can give Return on Investment.

Seamless and puncture-resistant terrazzo and epoxy flooring eliminate bumps, fissures, seams, and crevices that can harbor dangerous bacteria, which are so notorious for their role in healthcare-associated infections.

Sealed epoxy flooring is also stain-resistant and easy to maintain, making it an effective solution for busy healthcare facilities. This flooring doesn't need stripping or waxing, it is durable and resistant to stains, capable of supporting even the most stringent hygiene requirements, and puncture is resistant.

Picture Credit : Pinterest

Seamless terrazzo and epoxy for hospital floors can be installed in patient areas, hospital hallways, lobbies, dialysis areas, operating rooms, mechanical rooms, break areas, cafeterias, back-area kitchens and at any other location that needs a clean and durable sanitary flooring solution.

Luxury Vinyl Tile (LVT): 

This resilient product is low maintenance and is built to last. LVT is one of the most popular products in flooring today, mainly for the reception and waiting areas. It is easy to install, durable, essentially waterproof, and excellent in high traffic areas. In addition, commercial LVT uses a photographic print process on the tile which allows for almost endless design possibilities. Luxury vinyl tile is being used more commonly in healthcare because of its homelike design capabilities.

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For flooring that is easy to clean as well as easy on the eyes LVT is the answer. Design capabilities with LVT are endless, allowing for calming residential feels to fun and eye-popping patterns.

Carpet which has been the designer’s choice for Reception areas is more difficult to clean thoroughly, it is susceptible to harboring fungi and bacteria which may have a negative effect on patient health. Hence, I have excluded it from my recommendations as a flooring option even in the front of house areas such as receptions and waiting spaces within Health facilities. Unless the spaces are largely separate from clinical spaces, I would avoid carpets.

Considering the cleanability and design capabilities, LVT can be recommended for the Front of house areas such as Reception and waiting spaces in lieu of Carpet which is still being widely used in the Reception spaces.

There are different environments within healthcare that have their own unique requirements, or properties that are required for the floor covering.

While the aim is to meet the compliance requirements for health facilities, designers can mix different types of hygiene flooring options for different area to create a flooring and wayfinding options that have a healing effect on the patients, staff and families alike.

We could go on at length about several possibilities of each type of flooring to achieve a Patient experience that Heals and Nurtures. However, this article could be a starting point to understand the Flooring requirements in these specialized spaces.

Do get in touch to learn more or discuss about the important aspects of Healthcare Design and Construction and how this knowledge can help you stand out in the current competitive market.

NOOR SHAIK.

 Reference websites: Floor trends mag, Altro, Black rock industrial, Continental Flooring, Tenec coatings, Pressganey and east coast fl.

Picture Credits : Pinterest