Overview
editBarbara J. Huelat is an author, designer, healthcare strategist, researcher, hospice volunteer, and dementia caregiver. She is on the Board of Directors for the American Academy of Healthcare Interior Designers. In addition to her work in healthcare design, in 2003, Huelat published Healing Environments: Design for the Body, Mind & Spirit. In 2007, she followed this with Healing Environments: What's the Proof? Her new book, Taming the Chaos of Dementia: A Caregiver's Guide to Interventions that Make a Difference, will be published in November 2023.[1]
Huelat is a speaker on healthcare design and technology. Huelat has engaged in strategic planning, creating healing environments, and solving health challenges for more than 300 healthcare organizations.[2]
Certified in evidence-based design, Huelat regularly participates in healthcare design research with prominent researchers and organizations including research on memory care, bacteria mitigation, positive distractions, staff workflow, and business case factors of healing environments.[3]
Education
editHuelat received her Bachelor of Arts in Interior Design from the Harrington College of Design in Chicago in 1976. From there, she studied in the Department of Continuing Studies, Divisional Masters Program at the University of Chicago from 1976-1979, and received a Masters of Environmental Psychology.
Career
editHuelat lectured at Joliet Junior College from 1979-1982.