Co-Designing for Recovery: Centering Lived Experience in Care Environments

Synopsis

When designing mental health facilities for individuals experiencing schizophrenia and psychosis, understanding how lived experiences in the environment influences, safety, wellbeing and recovery is very important. Yet, there is limited research about this topic that directly engages and includes those most affected by these settings. While evidence-based design continues to shape mental health facilities, the perspectives of staff, families, and patients remain an important step in informing spatial and architectural design decisions. This presentation explores how user insights can become a foundation for designing environments that truly support recovery, dignity, and connection.
A student-led research study was conducted to examine how lived experience influences perceptions of safety, comfort, and therapeutic engagement in psychiatric settings. Surveys with staff and family members at a facility serving individuals with schizophrenia and psychosis were complemented by a case study and a literature review of eight peer-reviewed articles. The research identified five core design goals—supporting safety, autonomy, sensory regulation, therapeutic engagement, and human connection—each directly informed by users’ experiences of what fosters calm, control, and trust.
The findings were then applied to the design of a crisis stabilization and EMPATH unit, where the integration of user perspectives guided key spatial strategies: clear sightlines to reduce anxiety, adaptable sensory environments, areas for family presence, and opportunities for patient choice. This process demonstrated that when users are meaningfully included, research insights become more practical and design outcomes become more compassionate.
By putting lived experience at the center of the design process, this work shows how collaboration with staff, families and users can lead to spaces that feel inclusive, more personal, and more intentional. It makes the case for a user centric approach to behavioral health design—one that includes and values the everyday knowledge of those who live and work in these environments as essential key-drivers to design.