Paper
Designing with care: Interior design and residential child care
- issue: Issue 3 / 2008
- authors: Andrew Kendrick, Catherine Docherty
- keywords: United Kingdom, interior design
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abstract
Background. The design of our physical environment has been shown to affect our behaviour and impact on our well-being. Good design in health, education and work settings have been shown to have a range of positive effects. The design of care facilities has traditionally been driven by statutory and health and safety considerations, usually resulting in an 'institutional' look and feel. Children and young people in residential care have spoken tellingly about the impact of their environment on their experience of care. Although the links between the physical environment and therapeutic benefit have been known for some time, the literature on residential child care has not dealt with it in any great detail.
Purpose. This paper will describe an exploratory study which examined the attitudes to a range of design interventions in four residential care homes for children and young people in one local authority in Scotland. The project set out to identify the benefits and disadvantages to young people and staff of a change in approach to the design of interior spaces. It was undertaken by Farm7 (specialists in design research and consultancy) and the Scottish Institute for Residential Child Care (SIRCC).
Method. A variety of research methods was employed during this pilot study:
- a national survey of 32 Scottish local authorities was conducted to establish best practice relating to the design of children's homes;
- forty-five residential child care staff members took part in took part in one-to-one, group or telephone interviews;
- the participation of children and young people living in the four homes was a central part of the research:
- 22 out of a possible 29 children were involved in participatory workshops which were activity-focused, highly visual and were facilitated by an experienced design educator. Each participant was given a workbook for recording their activities which they retained at the end of the project. One workshops focused on drawing, cutting and pasting of preferred designs for an ideal house; the second and third workshops focused on design features in the house, and involved taking digital images of spaces and objects that were liked and disliked;
- 12 children also took part in interviews;
- interviews were undertaken with key professionals.
Findings. From the national survey, it was clear that no comprehensive knowledge base or guidance exists for the internal or external design of residential care homes for children. All design professionals and 80% of social work professionals considered that comprehensive guidance and information on best practice was desirable. Respondents considered that the main challenges in the design of residential care homes for children related to safety. Social work staff identified the difficulty in balancing the need for a homely environment with ensuring adequate provision for a residential care home and a workplace.
The key themes regarding the design of rooms identified relate broadly to three categories: personalising space, aesthetics and functionality.
A contrast between young people and staff was apparent throughout the research. In particular, young people were more descriptive, commenting on aesthetics, while staff opinions tended to focus on functionality. What staff considered appropriate for a residential care home and what young people liked or chose to comment upon often differed.
Some staff suggested that having a quality living environment did impact on young people's self-esteem and helped to raise their aspirations - "I think actually having somewhere that looks normal, that is well furnished, that just looks like a normal house has such impact on their self esteem and how they feel about their living environment."
Others perceived the expenditure to be excessive and suggested that the furnishings chosen were beyond what young people could achieve on leaving care and so could have a negative effect - "The majority of them come from backgrounds where it's not Habitat furniture or whatever and I think they've spent a huge expense to put furniture in here that is not suitable for the kids." Such a lack of aspiration could further disadvantage children and young people. Staff perceptions and reactions to the initiative highlight a need to more fully engage staff in the design process.
Personalising space is important in terms of children taking ownership and thus respecting the environment; it is therefore an important determinant in the success of the design.
Consultation is a useful way of engaging users (young people and staff), ensuring their needs are recognised and involving them in the process. In relation to aesthetics, young people mainly commented on the colour scheme, the sofas and accessories such as plants - "It's a boring colour scheme: grey, brown, black, beige...The only colour in the room is the fire extinguisher and the plants".
Staff tended to focus on functional aspects - "The kitchen works well in terms of being the hub of the house because it's got that huge table and that's where most people congregate."
In addition to design themes outlined above, other general themes impacted on design. Over-occupancy of the four houses often results in a communal space being used as a temporary bedroom. This puts pressure on both staff and young people. Having an open access workspace or study elicited mixed reactions from staff.
This pilot study highlighted that more research needs to be carried out on this important aspect of residential child care.
Key references
Docherty, C., Kendrick, A., Lerpiniere, J. & Sloan, P. (2006). Designing with Care: Interior Design and Residential Child Care, Full Report, Glasgow: Farm7 and Scottish Institute for Residential Child Care. http://www.sircc.strath.ac.uk/ publications/ Designing_with_Care.pdf.
Contacts: Andrew Kendrick, Scottish Institute of Residential Child Care, Glasgow School of Social Work, University of Strathclyde, Jordanhill Campus, 76 Southbrae Drive, Glasgow, G13 1PP, E-mail: andrew.kendrick@strath.ac.uk, Phone+44 (0) 141 950 3037.