WSU Spokane Design, Nursing Students Partner in Designing Housing for Parkinson’s Patients

SPOKANE, Wash. – Washington State University Spokane students in architecture, interior design, landscape architecture, and nursing will collaborate in the development of housing design concepts specifically for people with Parkinson’s Disease, working with the Puget Sound Housing for Parkinson’s Disease (PuSH for PD) and Parkinson’s support groups in the Spokane area.

Approximately 30,000 people in Washington state have Parkinson’s Disease, as do more than 1.5 million people nationwide. The disease is perhaps best known for the physical tremors it causes. However, problems with muscle rigidity, balance, swallowing and dementia are also common.

Many people with Parkinson’s must eventually leave their homes to live in group facilities. Because traditional assisted-living and skilled-care facilities must address a range of needs of the elderly and those other diseases, they do not specialize in delivering care for Parkinson’s. As a result, disease-specific and individual concerns are often inadequately addressed.

The purpose of the student project is to create an idealized design template for a specialized residential care facility currently planned by PuSH for PD. The design will incorporate best-of-class concepts taken from architecture, interior design and landscape design after thorough research into the needs of people with Parkinson’s, medical issues and general elder care. The goal is to create a warm, healthy, and supportive disease-specific environment focused on residents in mid to late-stage Parkinson’s.

PuSH for PD has completed predevelopment planning and is in the process of identifying land for a project in north King County or south Snohomish County. The conceptual design created by the students will serve as the basis for the site-specific construction plan once a location is found. Once operational, PuSH for PD expects that the first project will become a template for similar developments elsewhere.

“The conceptual design by the students will result in design features that can be exported and used no matter where the project is ultimately built and no matter the precise size, orientation and topography of the site,” said Bob Scarfo, associate professor of landscape architecture at WSU Spokane, who is heading up the studio.

Wendy Holman, PuSH for PD president, said “This project team gives us access to great minds and mixes the physical aspects of design with focused care, which is exactly the foundation of our strategy. We have high hopes for the conceptual design.”

Note to editors:
Friday, Sept. 7, beginning at 1:10 p.m., Phase I Classroom Bldg. Rm. 148, 668 N. Riverpoint Blvd.: An initial meeting to lay the foundation for the students’ work will be held. The media are invited to attend.

Participants will include:
Bob Scarfo, PhD, ASLA, associate professor of landscape architecture and teacher of the studio class doing the project
Wendy Holman, president, and Dick Almy, vice president, of Puget Sound Parkinson’s disease Housing and Care Alliance (PuSH for PD)
Ed Ewell, pharmacist and co-founder of Parkinson’s Resource Center of Spokane
Jennifer Plummer, physical therapist and vice president of Parkinson’s Resource Center of Spokane
Roxanne Vandermause, PhD, RN, assistant professor, WSU Intercollegiate College of Nursing
Students: Lisa Kellerman and Lon Smith, fourth-year nursing students; nine fourth-year design students
Julie Willis, Women with Parkinson’s Disease Lunch Group Coordinator
Ruth Palnick, President, Parkinson’s Resource Center of Spokane

Web sites:
Parkinson’s Resource Center of Spokane: http://www.spokaneparkinsons.org/
WSU Spokane Interdisciplinary Design Institute: www.idi.spokane.wsu.edu
WSU Intercollegiate College of Nursing: www.nursing.wsu.edu

E-Mail contact:
PuSH for PD: pushforpd@seanet.com