The organisers of the 2014 (23rd) IFHE Congress, being held in October next year in Buenos Aires, have revealed more details on the planned conference topics under the overall event theme of ‘The planning and design of buildings for health’.
As reported in the May 2013 edition of HEJ, the 2014 IFHE International Congress will be held from 12-16 October, 2014, at the UCA University in Puerto Madero (pictured), Buenos Aires, and is being organised by the Argentine Association of Hospital Architecture and Engineering (AADAIH). This is the first time that an IFHE Congress has been held in Latin America. AADAIH announced recently that there will be three sub-themes – ‘Sustainability’, ‘Humanisation’, and ‘New scenarios’. Areas covered by conference presentations under the first, ‘Sustainability’, will include ‘Economic resource optimisation’; ‘Physical resource optimisation, and utilisation of installed capacity’; ‘Transformation and expansion flexibility’; ‘Strategic planning’; ‘The environmental impact of plant’, including a focus on ‘green‘ hospitals’, and the role of information technology, building energy management systems, and renewable materials, in minimising the environmental impact of new and existing healthcare facilities. Under the sub-theme of ‘Humanisation’, speakers will address topics including ‘Patient-centered care’ – with the emphasis on ‘quality control and safety, regulations, recommendations, and accreditation’; ‘The holistic concept of the patient’ – examining subjects ranging from the use of design, colour, shape, and space in creating new healthcare facilities, to ways to integrate natural light, nature, and landscaping, and ‘The use of evidence-based design’. Presentations devoted to the third sub-theme, ‘New scenarios’, will focus on subjects ranging from ‘Addressing the healthcare needs of an ageing population, with an increase in chronic illness’, to ‘The hospital of the future’. This ‘stream’ will also consider the role of interdisciplinary teams, and the ‘roles assigned’ to architecture, engineering, management, and maintenance, plus ‘Changes in traditional working methods’, including the use of LEAN principles, and building engineering modelling (BIM). For more information on the 23rd IFHE Congress, visit: www.ifhe2014buenosaires.com.ar/ main-topics.htm
