Atmospheres of care in a psychiatric inpatient unit

Abstract

In this article we directly address the question of atmosphere in a psychiatric inpatient unit, focussing on the particular role that forms of care delivered ‘on the move’ play in shaping that atmosphere. Our approach, based in sensory ethnography, foregrounds the perspective of the staff who work in this environment, showing how they enact care via mobile, sensory and spatial expertize. In particular, we focus on the role of anticipation and movement in how people apprehend and try to shape the atmosphere of hospital wards. We argue that this points towards the need for a shift in our thinking about designing environments of care, one that accounts for the contingent atmospheres that so often characterize them. This also offers a way forward for designers to allow people in the wards to ongoingly constitute atmospheres of care in these distinctive surroundings.

Keywords:

• Hospital design
• care
• atmosphere
• anticipation
• mental health
• movement

Disclosure statement

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

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Shanti Sumartojo

Shanti Sumartojo is Associate Professor of Design Research and a member of the Emerging Technologies Research Lab at Monash University. Her research explores how people experience their surroundings, including both material and immaterial aspects, with a particular focus on design and technology.

Sarah Pink

Sarah Pink is Professor of Design and Emerging Technologies and Director of the Emerging Technologies Research Lab at Monash University. Her work is interdisciplinary, and brings together academic scholarship and applied practice to create new modes of researching and intervening in the world towards responsible and ethical futures.

Melisa Duque

Dr Melisa Duque is a Research Fellow in the Emerging Technologies Research Lab, and a full-time member of the Department of Design at Monash University. As a design researcher, her work sits at the intersection of Design Anthropology, Participatory Design and Everyday Design.

Laurene Vaughan

Professor Laurene Vaughan is Dean of the School of Design at RMIT University. She is a practicing artist, designer and educator, who through her research explores and present comment on the interactive and situated nature of human experience.