Designing human-centred palliative environments

Abstract

Background: The palliative environment (PE) can influence various users’ experiences of palliative care. Hence, architects could incorporate human-centred recommendations into their designs of PE to support such users (i.e., patient, family, caregiver, volunteer) in multiple dimensions of their wellbeing (i.e., physical, emotional, social, and spiritual). However, the impact of research in this field on architectural practices seems little so far. Architects seem to be hampered in using evidence-based knowledge to design PE because the research is usually considered difficult to access, rarely targeted at architects, and challenging to integrate into design. In such cases, architects usually use their intuitive knowledge. However, since PE are generally not commonplace buildings, a possible discrepancy between architectural practice and users’ needs and wishes can occur. To increase the impact in practice, it is necessary to consider which and how ‘spatial aspects’ affect users’ experiences and wellbeing with(in) PE.

Method: A scoping review on users’ experiences and wellbeing with(in) PE was performed to define spatial aspects; but, from an architectural perspective, some aspects were still missing. Performing fieldwork as a volunteer in two PE enabled data collection through qualitative methods (i.e., participant observation, case study analysis, and photo-elicitation interviews).

Results/conclusion: Users’ experiences in PE can differ quite extensively, yet research in this field rarely takes a multi-user perspective. In our project, we explore the impact and interconnections of spatial aspects on users’ experiences and wellbeing in PE while integrating multiple users’ voices. Knowledge of these various users’ experiences was linked to spatial aspects and then categorised into five main themes. These results provide insights, ideas, and support for (re)designing and researching human-centred palliative environments.