India's Healthcare Architecture: Strategic Design Principles to Address Urban-Rural Disparities

In a diverse country like India, the healthcare environment presents both thorny challenges and rich opportunities. The country's hospital infrastructure is under increasing strain in the areas of accessibility, quality, and equity, especially with snowballing population growth. While urban development expands within these constraints, architects can position innovative design solutions as vehicles to bridge the gap between quality and accessibility of healthcare in urban and rural India. It's done.

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Arti Ggnani of Vijay Gupta Architects sheds light on the current state of healthcare in India, stating, “There are significant disparities in the quality and accessibility of healthcare services between urban and rural areas.'' A critical look at the population distribution shows that the majority of Indians still live in rural areas. Despite this fact, 75% of health infrastructure is concentrated in urban areas, leaving rural areas underserved.

This trend further exacerbates rural-to-urban migration as families travel and relocate in search of better healthcare facilities. This urban-rural divide also faces significant shortages of health workers and historically low government spending on health care. As a result, the strain on existing facilities continues to increase, and equitable access to quality health care becomes an increasingly difficult goal for many Indians.

An important strategy to reduce the burden on urban centers lies in the establishment and upgrading of rural primary health centres, sub-centres and regional health centres. Appropriate infrastructure is essential for providing critical health services and timely interventions, and also reduces the burden on urban health facilities.

Another aspect of closing the urban-rural divide is addressing rural infrastructure challenges that go beyond health care. By creating more opportunities in rural areas, India can ease migration patterns that currently shift pressure to urban hospitals. For example, developing rural areas through improved access to education, employment opportunities, and essential services can help maintain populations in these areas.

Ggnani believes that, combined with the establishment of policies and infrastructure, architectural design can have a significant impact in addressing the health facility crisis. She emphasized the importance of biocompatible design principles in medical settings, saying, “Nature's healing powers influence our surrounding environment, air, food, rest, physical activity, and mental state.” According to research, looking at nature alone has been shown to speed recovery and reduce the need for pain medication. Healing gardens can also be developed to promote independence, social interaction, and physical activity.

This approach is already well-established in India, where projects like the mother-child block at AIIMS in New Delhi incorporate natural elements to create a healing environment. Dr. Ggnani says, “By integrating elements such as ample natural light, ventilation, and greenery, these designs foster a connection between patients and nature. This approach not only reduces stress and pain; Improves overall physical, mental, and emotional health. “

Other projects such as the Tata Medical Center in Kolkata and the Symbiotic University Hospital and Research Center in Pune visibly demonstrate the power of patient-centered design. Ashirwad Hospital in Varanasi, designed by Vijay Gupta Architects, revitalizes existing facilities with a focus on patient well-being, creating a positive and welcoming environment that enhances both physical recovery and mental well-being. This is an example of how it can be created. As India ramps up its efforts to promote health and well-being, momentum for healthy architectural practices is starting to build. Since 2020, WELL certification has quadrupled. This promising growth enables a structured framework for implementing patient-centered health promotion design principles.

When addressing access to healthcare in remote areas, Ggnani advocates for a design philosophy that respects local climate, culture, and needs. She suggests prioritizing sensitive design that respects climate, culture, and local needs while integrating efficient spatial programming and zoning. This helps promote physical and mental health and can transform rural health facilities into inclusive spaces. This approach includes thoughtful considerations such as orienting the building to maximize natural light and ventilation, limiting air conditioning to critical clinical spaces, and incorporating cultural features such as verandas and balconies.

Furthermore, the importance of integrating local art and native vegetation should not be overlooked. By creating a comfortable environment, we encourage regular health checkups and promote disease prevention. It's important to design around the patient experience and build a convenient and accessible healthcare infrastructure that meets people where they are.

International examples such as Partners In Health and Muso Health provide case studies on community-based healthcare models. These can be scaled up to improve infrastructure and long-term care in underserved areas and strengthen health infrastructure at the grassroots level. Community-based approaches can help health care providers build trust, enhance access, and provide culturally competent care to often marginalized populations. We partner with local organizations, community leaders, and health care providers to address the sensitive needs and challenges of specific populations.

India has great potential for grassroots initiatives that can be successfully scaled up. Recent government initiatives to provide tap water, toilets with sewer connections, and solid waste management systems have had a major impact on the healthcare sector. Safe drinking water and sanitation are powerful determinants of health, which directly contributes to reducing the burden of infectious diseases by 70-80%.

Ggnani advocates a strategic design approach using several elements, including data analytics, a patient-centered environment, user-friendly medical devices, streamlined processes, and multidisciplinary thinking. She believes that strategic design can help healthcare providers improve patient satisfaction ratings, drive sales volume growth, and positively position healthcare providers for the future of patient-centered care. Masu.

India's healthcare challenges require innovative approaches to design. The path forward includes an intentional approach to a patient-centered, culturally sensitive environment that addresses the needs of urban and rural populations in an equitable manner.

This article is part of the ArchDaily series 'India: A Billion of Buildings', which explores the impact of population growth, urbanization and economic growth on India's built environment. Through this series, we explore regional and international innovations that address the growth of India's cities. We also interact with architects, builders and the community and highlight their personal experiences. As always, ArchDaily values ​​the opinions of our readers. If you think a particular project should be featured, please send us your suggestions.