‘HALCYON: A Case for Investing in Section 136 Units or Places of Safety, Using Evidence-based Design, to Aid Recovery From the First Point of Contact With a Mental Health Environment

Synopsis

Places of safety are sometimes the starting point for individuals’ journey to recovery, setting the tone for their patient experience and should provide sanctuary, fostering psychological comfort.
Apart from being safe, we feel that these environments should be more therapeutic.
This can be achieved by using evidence-based design concepts surrounding the senses, proxemics and neurodiversity; biophilic visual interest; organic-influenced materials palette for a tactile experience; forest sounds and smells; circadian rhythm lighting and patient choice.
Estates up and down the country vary in quality with regards to their places of safety. The talk will cover what can be done to set standards for this and for the additional upfront capital costs of building in beautiful spaces, could we see greater value in patient wellbeing and self-regulation affecting length of stay and overall recovery.
The talk will discuss a concept design call ‘Halycon’ developed by Arcadis for Mental Health Awareness week in 2024 and a case study will demonstrate how aspects of this thought leadership are already being applied practically within an acute A&E department which is due for completion in early 2025.