Welcome to Behind The Design – a video podcast where leading experts from the Design in Mental Health community share their expertise, best practices, and perspectives on mental health environment design, as well as discussing their involvement in the event.
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Episode 1 - with Raf Hamaizia
Social Hubs: Transforming inpatient experience
Posted on 3 March 2025
Raf Hamaizia, Expert by Experience Lead at Cygnet Health Care, joins us to discuss the innovation of social hubs at Cygnet, and the impact of co-production and power dynamics on service user engagement.
In this episode:
01:07 – What was the inspiration behind starting the social hubs?
03:07 – What impact have they had on the ground
05:16 – Why are power dynamics, engagement, and enhanced observations such a focus for social hubs?
07:26 – What has the data shown?
09:50 – What are the plans moving forward?
11:23 – Event presence
Episode 2 - with Philip Ross
The Importance of Lived Experience in Design
Posted on 11 March 2025
Philip Ross, Co-founder of Safehinge Primera, joins us to discuss what he has learned from working in the mental health design sector, and why listening to and using the voices of those with lived experience is so important.
In this episode:
01:08 – Philip, you’ve been working in mental health design for over 15 years – what’s the biggest thing you’ve learned?
02:14 – You’re going to talk about “hyper-alert” environments in mental healthcare – what do you mean by that and why is it a concern?
05:15 – You’ve always shared powerful real-life stories from people with lived experience – why and how do you use these?
08:10 – You mention co-production as a core part of your design approach. Why is that so critical in mental health spaces?
11:40 – Without giving too much away – what’s one major change you think we need to make in designing for mental health care?
13:53 – Event presence
The Importance of Lived Experience in Design
Posted on 11 March 2025
Philip Ross, Co-founder at Safehinge Primera, Chair for Design in Mental Health Network, and Trustee at Centre for Mental Health, joins us to discuss what he has learned from working in the mental health design sector, and why listening to and using the voices of those with lived experience is so important.
In this episode:
01:08 – Philip, you’ve been working in mental health design for over 15 years – what’s the biggest thing you’ve learned?
02:14 – You’re going to talk about “hyper-alert” environments in mental healthcare – what do you mean by that and why is it a concern?
05:15 – You’ve always shared powerful real-life stories from people with lived experience – why and how do you use these?
08:10 – You mention co-production as a core part of your design approach. Why is that so critical in mental health spaces?
11:40 – Without giving too much away – what’s one major change you think we need to make in designing for mental health care?
13:53 – Event presence
Episode 1 - with Raf Hamaizia
Social Hubs: Transforming inpatient experience
Posted on 3 March 2025
Raf Hamaizia, Expert by Experience Lead at Cygnet Health Care, joins us to discuss the innovation of social hubs at Cygnet, and the impact of co-production and power dynamics on service user engagement.
In this episode:
01:07 – What was the inspiration behind starting the social hubs?
03:07 – What impact have they had on the ground
05:16 – Why are power dynamics, engagement, and enhanced observations such a focus for social hubs?
07:26 – What has the data shown?
09:50 – What are the plans moving forward?
11:23 – Event presence
