Archnet > Publication > The Effects of Built Environment on Opportunities for Wellbeing in Care Homes

Lesley J. McIntyre - <div style="text-align: justify; "><div style="text-align: left;"><div><p style="text-align: justify; margin-top: 1em; margin-bottom: 1em;">The built environment influences the well-being of older people in care homes. In order to design for enablement, physical activity, and social connectivity there are lessons to be learnt from current care home buildings. Uncovering this design information is key for the future improvement of environments for older people. To the field of architecture, this paper presents an analysis of ethnographic observations (utilizing an adapted form of the AEIOU heuristic) from five urban care homes in the UK. Findings provide insight into the qualities of the built environment that have impact on the activity and potential well-being of older residents. Five significant qualities of the built environment are identified:  Spatial Legibility, Spatial Interconnectedness, Spatial Traversability, Spatial Diversity, and Spatial Aesthetics.<br></p></div><div style=""><span style="font-weight: bold;">Keywords:</span></div><div style=""><br></div><div style="">Care homes; wellbeing; ethnographic observations; human building interactions; user study<br></div></div></div><div style=""><span style="text-align: left; font-weight: bold;"><br></span></div><div style=""><span style="text-align: left;"><br></span></div>

Type

journal article

Year

2017

The built environment influences the well-being of older people in care homes. In order to design for enablement, physical activity, and social connectivity there are lessons to be learnt from current care home buildings. Uncovering this design information is key for the future improvement of environments for older people. To the field of architecture, this paper presents an analysis of ethnographic observations (utilizing an adapted form of the AEIOU heuristic) from five urban care homes in the UK. Findings provide insight into the qualities of the built environment that have impact on the activity and potential well-being of older residents. Five significant qualities of the built environment are identified: Spatial Legibility, Spatial Interconnectedness, Spatial Traversability, Spatial Diversity, and Spatial Aesthetics.

Keywords:

Care homes; wellbeing; ethnographic observations; human building interactions; user study

McIntyre, Lesley J. and Ian Ruaraidh Harrison. "The Effects of Built Environment Design on Opportunities for Wellbeing in Care Homes." Archnet-IJAR: International Journal of Architectural Research. Vol. 11, issue 1, 2017: 138-156.

ISSN 1938-7806. OCLC 145980807; LOC 2007212183.