In “Private Bedrooms in Nursing Homes: Benefits, Disadvantages, and Costs,” an article in the current issue of the AIA Design for Aging newsletter, environment-behavior researcher Margaret P. Calkins, PhD, indicates that patients in private rooms experience better outcomes than those in shared rooms. Calkins explored four types of outcomes related to the different room configurations: psycho-social, clinical, operational, and construction/building factors. The vast majority of factors indicated better outcomes associated with private rooms over shared rooms. Her detailed cost analysis suggests construction cost differentials range from $5,000 to $22,000 (including debt) across the different room configurations, which can be recouped in less than four years if beds remain occupied, and in less than five months if a shared-room bed remains unoccupied. To read the article, see the current issue (Summer 2007) on the Design for Aging Web site.