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Psychiatric Institutions and the Physical Environment: Combining Medical Architecture Methodologies and Architectural Morphology to Increase Our Understanding

Chrysikou, E; (2019) Psychiatric Institutions and the Physical Environment: Combining Medical Architecture Methodologies and Architectural Morphology to Increase Our Understanding. Journal of Healthcare Engineering , 2019 , Article 4076259. 10.1155/2019/4076259. Green open access

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Abstract

The pluralism that characterized the development of psychiatric services around the world created a variety of policies, care models and building types and fostered experimental approaches. Increased complexities of care, institutional remnants, stigma and the limited diagnostic and interventional accuracy of psychiatric treatments resulted in institutional behaviors surviving, even in newly built facilities. This was raised by research on awarded psychiatric buildings. The locus of the research comprised two acute psychiatric wards in London. Each was evaluated using the SCP model, a tool specifically developed for the evaluation of mental health facilities, identifying the relation between policy, care-regime and patient-focused environment. Data derived from plans, visits and staff and patient interviews. Findings were juxtaposed to those of an earlier study using the same methodology [1, 2]. Also, a syntactic analysis was conducted, to identify the social logic of ward layouts. There were potential connections between regimes, spatial configuration and the social fabric. Methodologies of architectural morphologies indicated areas that would attract people, because of the layout rather than function. However, insights from medical architecture outlined institutional undercurrents and provided alternative interpretation to spatial analysis. Comprehending the social fabric of psychiatric facilities could challenge the current surveillance-led model, as psychosocial rehabilitation uses could be encouraged at points of higher integration.

Type: Article
Title: Psychiatric Institutions and the Physical Environment: Combining Medical Architecture Methodologies and Architectural Morphology to Increase Our Understanding
Open access status: An open access version is available from UCL Discovery
DOI: 10.1155/2019/4076259
Publisher version: https://doi.org/10.1155/2019/4076259
Language: English
Additional information: This version is the author accepted manuscript. For information on re-use, please refer to the publisher’s terms and conditions.
Keywords: psychiatric facilities, mental health, healthcare architecture, architecture
UCL classification: UCL
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS > Faculty of the Built Environment
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS > Faculty of the Built Environment > The Bartlett Sch of Const and Proj Mgt > Bartlett Real Estate Institute
URI: https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10062424
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