The Meanings of Place and Space in Forensic Psychiatric Care – And Their Implications for Interior Design, Patient Wellness and Staff Work Environment

Synopsis

This presentation takes its point of departure in a recent study of patients’ experience of the physical environment in a forensic psychiatric hospital. Findings show that the physical environment plays a significant role to meet the patients’ basic needs and creating meaning, which this environment struggled with. The learning that could be extracted from the shortcoming of this hospital’s interior design (the 1970s) is important to acknowledge and bring into the process of designing new facilities, both for the sake of the patient’s wellbeing as well as for the staff’s work environment.