Design Considerations for Residents with Impeded Cognitive Functioning: Conversations with People with Schizophrenia

Elizabeth Karol and Dianne Smith
Additional contact information
Elizabeth Karol: DEKS Design Research Consultancy, Curtin University, Bentley 6102, Australia
Dianne Smith: DEKS Design Research Consultancy, Curtin University, Bentley 6102, Australia

Sustainability, 2021, vol. 13, issue 14, 1-18

Abstract: Insights into the relationship between people with impeded cognitive functioning and the built environment have arisen over the last few decades. This research builds on underlying research that looked at how the home environment could help people feel supported so they could better cope with everyday living and thus achieve an enhanced QoL. Such support goes beyond functional design related to activities of daily living and encompasses opportunities for comprehension, management, finding meaningfulness in , and providing emotional affordance in the home. This article reports on conversational interviews with people with schizophrenia discussing their experiences of home environments. Their responses provide a basis on which to generate a more nuanced understanding of the impact of accommodation on people with schizophrenia, challenge considerations previously identified and highlight the need for further research. Considerations include the importance of the home’s proximity to places for potential relaxation, the need for security of housing tenure rather than short-term crisis housing, awareness of the support required for occupants to maintain outdoor areas and enabling occupants to pursue personal interests in the home. The findings will inform the development of accommodation design considerations that focus on improving quality of life for people with schizophrenia. In this way, the findings will contribute to enabling this neurodiverse group to remain independent, empowered and functioning members of the community—leading to greater social sustainability.

Keywords: design; architecture; accommodation; schizophrenia; neurodiverse (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/13/14/7733/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/13/14/7733/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:13:y:2021:i:14:p:7733-:d:592263

Access Statistics for this article

Sustainability is currently edited by Ms. Alexandra Wu

More articles in Sustainability from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().