Ghaydaa Hemaidah is recognised for her innovative doctoral research on healthcare environments, winning the International Research Project award
The Design & Health International Academy Awards is the leading advocacy program in the world, recognising professional excellence in the research and practice of designing healthy built environments.Ghaydaa Hemaidah received the International Research Project award, an accolade recognising her doctoral work entitled ’Towards Healing Environments in Healthcare Facilities: A Tool for Assessing Supportive Environments’, which centred on the creation of a tool for evaluating the extent to which healthcare buildings support patients’ psychosocial well-being.
The evaluation tool, which has been tested and validated through case studies as part of a rigorous evidence-mapping process, allows assessors to understand which aspects of a healthcare environment are well designed to support patients’ psychosocial well-being, and which aspects are not.
Dr Alan Lewis accepts Design and Health International Academy Award on behalf of Ghaydaa Hemaidah It will benefit healthcare practitioners by helping to identify the potential impact of the built environment; and be valuable to estates departments, architects, and interior designers when designing new and remodelling existing buildings. It also offers opportunities for future research, especially in identifying trends in good and bad practice in hospital design.
The awards ceremony took place at the 13th Design & Health World Congress in Milan, Italy, attended by Dr Alan Lewis, Head of Architecture at The University of Manchester, who supervised Ghaydaa’s PhD.
I am thrilled that I’ve been awarded the International Academy award for best research project. I extend my sincere gratitude to the committee, led by Professor Alan Dilani, for this honour. Special thanks also go to my supervisor, Dr Alan Lewis, who graciously accepted the award on my behalf.
I am delighted that Ghaydaa has received recognition for her doctoral research. The evaluation tool is a valuable contribution to academic knowledge, which will also bring practical benefits to architects, estates departments and clinicians.
