Center for Inclusive Design and Environmental Access, School of Architecture and Planning, University at Buffalo.
Department of Architecture, Built Environment, and Construction Engineering; Politecnico di Milano.
Stud Health Technol Inform. 2022 Sep 2;297:340-347. doi: 10.3233/SHTI220858.
For over half a century, researchers have sought to better understand the needs of people with disabilities in the built environment, and for more than a quarter century, they have sought to understand the effectiveness of universal design (UD) on a wide range of people and populations. This research led to the creation of the innovative solutions for Universal Design (isUD) building certification program, which addresses knowledge gaps in the practitioner's field with UD criteria. The isUD focuses on commercial buildings but aims to expand to other sectors including healthcare and residential settings. The research and outcomes used in the development and evaluation of the isUD combined with lessons learned from implementation of the isUD program suggest a path forward to improve and expand the program. Several research studies have evaluated the effectiveness of UD standards. One study compared university residence halls, one of which was built using a draft version of UD standards using a guided tour and online surveys among other methods.[1] Another study used online surveys to compare a workplace built using the isUD with the former workspace.[2] Another study used in-person surveys to compare public right-of-way features pre- and post- design intervention.[3] Lastly, an innovative doctoral dissertation that proposes a new methodological tool to evaluate UD in healthcare settings [4-5] has been analyzed to inform the isUD's expansion into the healthcare sector. The results indicate there is value in using UD to address equal access to and use of facilities for people with and without disabilities, and people of diverse social, cultural, and economic backgrounds. Facilities built using UD standards and tools are more usable, comfortable, and satisfying for users. However, the results also indicate there is room for improvement to make the isUD tool more effective. These improvements will better enable expansion of the tool to be usable in settings with more specialized requirements. While UD is often effective at improving human performance, health and wellness, and social participation across some measures, and while tools that assist with UD implementation may further help achieve these outcomes, to gain widespread adoption across multiple sectors, such tools must be shown to be consistently effective in achieving UD outcomes across all measures. These improvements can help expand availability of UD to a wider, more diverse audience.
半个多世纪以来，研究人员一直致力于更好地了解建筑环境中残疾人士的需求，并且在过去的四分之一个世纪里，他们一直致力于了解通用设计（UD）在广泛人群和人群中的有效性。这项研究导致了创新的通用设计解决方案(isUD)建筑认证计划的创建，该计划用 UD 标准解决了实践领域的知识差距。isUD 专注于商业建筑，但旨在扩展到其他领域，包括医疗保健和住宅环境。在 isUD 开发和评估中使用的研究和结果以及从 isUD 计划实施中吸取的经验教训表明了改进和扩展该计划的途径。几项研究评估了 UD 标准的有效性。一项研究比较了大学宿舍，其中一个宿舍是使用 UD 标准的草案版本建造的，使用了导游和在线调查等方法。[1]另一项研究使用在线调查比较了使用 isUD 建造的工作场所和以前的工作场所。[2]另一项研究使用现场调查比较了设计干预前后公共通道的特征。[3]最后，一项创新性的博士论文提出了一种新的方法学工具来评估医疗保健环境中的 UD[4-5]，并对其进行了分析，以告知 isUD 向医疗保健领域的扩展。结果表明，使用 UD 来解决残疾人和非残疾人以及具有不同社会、文化和经济背景的人平等获得和使用设施的问题是有价值的。使用 UD 标准和工具建造的设施对用户来说更具可用性、舒适性和满意度。然而，结果也表明，有改进的空间，使 isUD 工具更加有效。这些改进将更好地使工具能够在具有更专业要求的环境中使用。虽然 UD 在提高某些方面的人类绩效、健康和幸福感以及社会参与度方面通常是有效的，并且有助于 UD 实施的工具可能进一步帮助实现这些结果，但要在多个部门广泛采用这些工具，必须证明它们在所有方面都能始终如一地实现 UD 结果。这些改进可以帮助将 UD 提供给更广泛、更多样化的受众。
