About

Paul Eshelman is associated with the Bronfenbrenner Center for Translational Research at Cornell University. The center assists faculty in developing translational research projects by providing support such as proposal preparation assistance, training, technical support, and help in brokering collaborative relationships. The center also offers workshops, an intensive summer institute, and talks on current research to facilitate translational research methods. While specific details about Dr. Eshelman's individual research focus, background, or key contributions are not provided in the page text, his association with the center indicates involvement in supporting and advancing translational research efforts at Cornell.

Research topics

• Psychology
• Nursing
• Medicine
• Computer science
• Gerontology

Selected publications

• Palliative Design Meets Palliative Medicine: A Strategic Approach to the Design, Construction, and Operation of Healthcare Facilities to Improve Quality of Life and Reduce Suffering for Patients, Families, and Caregivers

  HERD Health Environments Research & Design Journal · 2019-01-11 · 7 citations

  articleSenior author

  A built environment designed to be appropriate for palliative care can make a profound difference for people with life-limiting illnesses. The built environment affects a patient's quality of life, the management of physical and psychological symptoms, and the quality of social interactions with loved ones and caregivers. This article is informed by the emerging trends in the research and practice in the disciplines of architecture, design, medicine, and nursing. The article is intended to provide a definition of palliative design and invite discussion of its potential impact on patients, families, and caregivers. Our goal is to initiate conversation about palliative design, foster sharing of experiences and feedback among building professionals, and discuss future paths for formal adoption into practice.

  PublisherDOI

• Non-pharmacological solutions to sleep and circadian rhythm disruption: voiced bedside experiences of hospice and end-of-life staff caregivers

  BMC Palliative Care · 2018-12-01 · 17 citations

  articleOpen access

  BACKGROUND: Sleep disturbance is a significant issue, particularly for patients with advanced terminal illness. Currently, there are no practice-based recommended approaches for managing sleep and circadian disruptions in this population. To address this gap, a cross-sectional focus group study was performed engaging 32 staff members at four hospices/end-of-life programs in three demographically diverse counties in New York State. METHODS: Participants responded to structured open-ended questions. Responses were transcribed and subjected to qualitative content analysis. The themes and recommendations for improved practice that emerged were tabulated using Atlas TI qualitative software. RESULTS: This report details the experiences of hospice and end-of-life care staff in managing sleep and circadian disruptions affecting patients and analyzes their recommendations for improving care. Caregivers involved in the study described potential interventions that would improve sleep and reduce circadian disruptions. They particularly highlighted a need for improved evaluation and monitoring systems, as well as sleep education programs for both formal and informal caregivers. CONCLUSIONS: The voiced experiences of frontline hospice and end-of-life caregivers confirmed that disruption in sleep and circadian rhythms is a common issue for their patients and is not effectively addressed in current research and practice. The caregivers' recommendations focused on management strategies and underscored the need for well-tested interventions to promote sleep in patients receiving end-of-life care. Additional research is needed to examine the effectiveness of systematic programs that can be easily integrated into the end-of-life care process to attenuate sleep disturbances.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Strategies to Improve Quality of Life at the End of Life: Interdisciplinary Team Perspectives

  American Journal of Hospice and Palliative Medicine® · 2017-06-02 · 47 citations

  articleOpen access

  This ethnographic study draws on the experiences of members of interdisciplinary care teams working with end-of-life care patients to identify strategies to improve quality of life through care practices. We surveyed 133 staff and volunteers (physicians, physician assistants, nurse practitioners, registered nurses, social workers, chaplains, administrators, and volunteers) who provide end-of-life care to patients in both home and institutional settings for 4 organizations in 2 counties in Upstate New York. Survey responses were analyzed using qualitative content analysis. The results identified numerous strategies to enhance and safeguard quality of life for end-of-life care patients and their family members. These strategies can be categorized into 6 domains: organization philosophy and mission; organizational policies; caregivers' behaviors and practices; symptom management; facility design, operation and management; and patient, family member, and caregiver experience. The diverse list of identified strategies indicates that improving care to address the unique, complex, multilayered dimensions of quality of life at the end of life requires a multidisciplinary approach and consistency among care providers, including administration, clinical management, front-line caregivers, and support staff. When all of these strategies are used in harmony, care can truly be enhanced.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Environmental Design for End-of-Life Care: An Integrative Review on Improving the Quality of Life and Managing Symptoms for Patients in Institutional Settings

  Journal of Pain and Symptom Management · 2017-09-20 · 92 citations

  reviewOpen access
  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Paul Eshelman Faculty Bio

  eCommons (Cornell University) · 2015-05-01

  articleOpen access1st authorCorresponding
  Publisher

• Special Populations Studio: Transforming Informed Response into Design

  Journal of Interior Design · 2014-12-01

  article1st authorCorresponding

  Design an apartment that extends independence for an elderly couple where one partner has Alzheimer’s disease. This was the challenge posed to us nearly twenty years ago by Joseph Dugan and Eric Clay, who were at that time the Principals of Shared Journeys, a foundation dedicated to improving care of people with dementia. From this challenge grew a collaborative studio that involves students in two independent courses—an interior design studio and an environment and behavior seminar—focused on design for special populations. In this Perspective essay, we tell the story of this learning experience, first by describing how it was structured and then by discussing the implications of this type of challenge and the design process for educating designers. The Story What intrigued both of us as educators about the challenge and the prospect of this collaboration was the complementary fit between our respective pedagogical aspirations. DEA 3301, Design Studio V, Professor Paul Eshelman Over years of teaching studio, I have arrived at the belief that design students gain valuable understanding about creativity when the challenges they address push them outside their realm of familiarity. Such challenges suspend their creative intuition and force them to reinform that intuition

  PublisherDOI

• Biography: Paul Eshelman

  eCommons (Cornell University) · 2009-01-01

  articleOpen access1st authorCorresponding

  2011 Biography

  Publisher

• Hospital Birthing Room Design: A Study of Mothers’ Perception of Hominess

  Journal of Interior Design · 2004-01-01 · 23 citations

  articleSenior author

  The objective of this research is to examine a select set of interior design elements for their contribution to the perception of hominess in a birthing environment. Seven interior design elements were studied. Seven line drawings were generated to illustrate variability in the manipulation level of each design element, resulting in a total of 49 line drawings. Subjects were asked to rate each of the 49 drawings with three different outcome measures: the degree of hominess perceived, the likeliness of using the setting as their birthing place (preference), and the perception of personal control. Researchers employed multiple comparisons with analysis of variance to investigate the contribution of each interior design element to each of the three outcomes. Relationships among the three outcomes were then investigated through coefficient correlation analysis. Finally, a General Linear Model was utilized to further investigate degree of impact of each design element. The findings indicate that perceived hominess in the birthing place is important to women. Furthermore, there is agreement about the use and manipulation of interior design in enhancing the perception of hominess. Successful design in hospital birthing settings can contribute to women's feeling of hominess by providing personal control over visual access, patient exposure, family visitation, and the immediate environment.

  PublisherDOI

• Balance

  Journal of Interior Design · 2004-01-01 · 2 citations

  article1st authorCorresponding
  PublisherDOI

• Housing Quality and Psychological Well-Being Among the Elderly Population

  The Journals of Gerontology Series B · 2002-07-01 · 150 citations

  articleOpen accessSenior author

  With exponential growth in the number of elderly Americans living independently in the community, it is important to better understand the implications of living conditions for psychological well-being among the elderly population. In a cross-sectional study, housing quality is associated with positive affect among the older adults living independently in the community. Moreover, this relation is mediated by place attachment. Elderly residents of higher quality homes, independent of multiple sociodemographic factors (e.g., income, gender), feel more attached to their home, which, in turn, appears to account for the relation between housing quality and positive affect.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

Frequent coauthors

• Rana Sagha Zadeh

  Cornell University

  7 shared

• Elizabeth Capezuti

  City University of New York

  6 shared

• Judith Setla

  United Hospice

  4 shared

• Ana C. Krieger

  Weill Cornell Medicine

  2 shared

• Jung–Hye Shin

  University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee

  2 shared

• Gary W. Evans

  New York State University College of Human Ecology

  2 shared

• Laura C. Kennedy

  2 shared

• Nicole Woody

  2 shared

Education

• B.S., Industrial Design

  Kent State University

  1970

• Other, Industrial Design

  University of Illinois, Champaign-Urbana

  1972

Awards & honors

• Fellow of the Interior Design Educators Council
• Best in Show Award, Visual Arts Category, Interior Design Ed…