Using Art and Visual Design to Support De-escalation

Synopsis

This presentation explores the second phase of a sustained collaboration between the University of Lincoln and NHS Lincolnshire Partnership Foundation Trust (LPFT), led by Associate Professors Dr Steve Fossey and Rachel Baynton. The partnership brings together NHS staff, service users with lived experience, and students through a co-production model that integrates artistic practice with mental health research.

The first phase focused on mindfulness, recovery, and sensory experience, producing two large-scale artworks for the Peter Hodgkinson Acute Mental Health Centre that support grounding and de-escalation. The project was shortlisted for the 2024 Design in Mental Health Awards (‘Art Installation of the Year’) and informed the creation of an immersive 3D Matterport model that enhances understanding and accessibility of therapeutic environments.

Phase Two, now complete, expands this research into the field of de-escalation through art and visual design. As Consultant Artists-in-Residence for the new Boston Norton Lea mental health ward, Fossey and Baynton developed three permanent, co-produced artworks designed specifically to support emotional regulation and recovery. This phase drew on emerging evidence from trauma-informed care, sensory integration, and environmental psychology, combining academic inquiry with collaboration from Experts by Experience and clinical practitioners. Working closely with occupational therapists and patients, the artists investigated how, colour, form, imagery and text can function as active tools for calming, orientation, and de-escalation within clinical spaces.

For the Design in Mental Health Conference, Dr Steve Fossey and will present his and Baynton’s new findings from this phase, demonstrating how sustained co-creation and evidence-led visual design can contribute to safer, more restorative mental health environments.