Pediatric intensive care unit design guide and design assistance model

In the PhD. thesis to be prepared within the scope of the Architectural Design Doctorate Program, it is intended to determine the set of criteria that affect the design of ?Pediatric Intensive Care Unit? where a wide age range (1month-18 years), and thus various anthropometric dimensions apply and to create a design guide to be used in hospital designs. For health buildings to provide quality services to their users (primarily to patients), they should be be correctly associated and correctly designed from layout plan to settlement plan of the smallest unit, based on needs.As in every field of architectural design, determining the set of criteria to guide the design of ?Pediatric Intensive Care Units?, that serve a specific user, greatly affects the efficient use of space. To improve efficiency of Pediatric Intensive Care Units, it is necessary to examine a variety of factors ranging from the relationship between staff-patient-equipment, to the location of the unit within the hospital. Today, the determination of failures in the few Pediatric Intensive Care Units in Turkey and the research and examination of right and wrong examples from around the world are very important in the correct identification of problems and the creation of a contemporary design.It should not be ignored that cognitive, social and personal features as well as physical dimensions require children and adults to be treated as two separate categories in architectural design. However, in our country, a child is usually regarded as the smaller of an adult and special designs are not created. This study aims to create a design guide and design assistance model for Pediatric Intensive Care Units on which extensive work has been initiated especially in the field of medicine. The main objective of the study is to create a database for those that design and use Pediatric Intensive Care Units that are compulsory in newly built hospitals in developed countries and on which work to make compulsory have started in Turkey.In this study, it is intended to determine the factors regarding space formation of Pediatric Intensive Care Units, to examine, to find the correct solutions and to create a model. Visual and physical design criteria were determined by exploring the activities, measures, equipment, international standards and application examples around the patient bed. Information that is gathered via verbal (face-to-face) interviews and questionnaires with medical staff and relatives of patients that are being or have been treated in Pediatric Intensive Care Units were analyzed. Then, the inclinations put forward by the analysis and intensive care unit rooms organized with different headboard units were compared and in this context, Pediatric Intensive Care Unit Design Assistance Model proposal was created.As a result, contemporary designs that are child and family centered, provide convenience to the health personnel and ease the process for the relatives of patients must be made for Pediatric Intensive Care Units that are an important need in our country and for which work to make compulsory have started.