“Years ago, someone decided that the male was the default and the female was the outlier.” - Abbie Clary

When we think about improving the healthcare experience for women, the focus tends to be on treatments, protocols, or new technologies, but the physical and virtual care environment is just as important. The lighting, acoustics, air quality, privacy, and overall design of a space all influence how safe, regulated, and supported someone feels when they seek care. And for patients navigating vulnerable or intimate health concerns, those details can shape the entire clinical experience.

These factors don’t only matter to our clients. The spaces we work in affect our nervous systems, our ability to focus, and the kind of presence we bring to patient care as practitioners. Despite these facts, most healthcare environments weren’t designed with women’s needs in mind. In fact, much of modern design and safety research was historically based on the “reference man,” a standardized model that shaped everything from building codes to temperature settings. When we begin to question those assumptions, we open the door to designing healthcare environments that are more inclusive, supportive, and healing for everyone.

Today, I’m joined by Abbie Clary, architect and Executive Director of Market Strategies and Growth for the Health practice at CannonDesign. Abbie shares how her work in healthcare architecture has evolved from simply responding to clinician requests to conducting deep behavioral research about how patients, families, and staff actually experience care environments. We explore how the concept of the “reference male” has influenced healthcare design, why patient experience is about more than efficiency, how thoughtful design choices can transform care, practical ideas you can apply in your clinic or telehealth environment to create spaces that better support both healing and human connection, and more.

Enjoy the episode, and let's innovate and integrate together!

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Learn more or watch the video version of this conversation at https://integrativewomenshealthinstitute.com/rethinking-and-redesigning-womens-health-physical-spaces-in-womens-health-with-architect-abbie-clary/.

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