Architectural-rich service users’ experiences within palliative environments: a designerly scoping review

Abstract

To positively strengthen the relationship between the physical character of a palliative environment (PE) and the service users who reside, visit or work in it, the architectural design process should adopt a human-centred approach. Implementing this approach would imply ‘looking through the eyes of service users’. Since practical and ethical factors seem to prevent architects from engaging directly with service users in PEs, this paper studies the appearance of architectural-rich service users’ experiences within PEs in the existing literature. In addition, we wonder why research knowledge in this field seem to remain confined to academic discourse and how academia can increase the transfer of ‘designerly’ know-how to support the architectural design process of human-centred PEs. In doing so, we propose the designerly scoping review, a methodology that customizes a scoping review in a more relevant and friendly way to architects. This review resulted in thirteen spatial aspects, divided over four atmospheres and linked to actual service users’ experiences with(in) PEs. While the review showed that theoretical knowledge is available in this particular field, the ‘architectural richness’ is often lacking in current literature.

Keywords:

• Palliative care
• human-centred design
• architectural-rich service users’ experiences
• designerly scoping review
• spatial aspects

Acknowledgements

The authors are grateful for the insightful comments offered by Peggy Winkels and Liesbeth De Donder. In addition, the authors mention that this study was supported by the Special Research Fund (BOF) of Hasselt University (BOF20OWB01).

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Iris Beuls

Iris Beuls is a PhD researcher in Architecture at the Faculty of Architecture and Arts, Hasselt University, Belgium. Her interdisciplinary research focuses on the intersection of architecture and palliative care, specifically on ‘designing human-centred palliative environments’. She investigates the relationship between the physical character of palliative environments and the various service users’ experiences who reside, visit or work (in) it. Additionally, she aims to identify and address the research-practice gap within this particular domain.

Ann Petermans

Ann Petermans (PhD, Architecture) is Assistant Professor at the Faculty of Architecture and Arts, Hasselt University, Belgium. Within the ArcK research group Designing for More, she heads research on Designing for Subjective Wellbeing in (interior) architecture. Ann’s research interests pertain in particular to designing for experience in designed environments and for diverse user groups, and research related to design for subjective wellbeing and how architecture and interior architecture can contribute in this respect. Current research projects focus on design for wellbeing, care, dwelling and ageing in place. Ann chairs the Design Research Society’s Special Interest Group on Design for Wellbeing, Happiness and Health, and is an editorial board member of The Design Journal. She is co-editor of ‘Design for Wellbeing: an applied approach’ (2020) and ‘Retail Design: theoretical perspectives’ (2017), both published by Routledge.

Jan Vanrie

Jan Vanrie (PhD, Psychology) is Associate Professor of Human Sciences and Research Methodology at the Faculty of Architecture and Arts, Hasselt University, Belgium. His research interests lie at the intersection of environmental psychology and perception, (interior) architecture, and design research and education. He works with several colleagues in the research group ‘ArcK – Designing for More’, investigating how people experience and interact with the built environment and looking for ways to support designers in design approaches such as design for subjective wellbeing, design for experience and universal design/design for all.