Interior design : a new perspective in supportive care of patients with acute onset of debilitating diseases

Abstract

Background: Upon the onset of a debilitating rapidly evolving condition (such as cancer or a rapidly progressing myopathy, neuropathy, respiratory disease, or a severe traumatic injury), individuals have limited time to find a new home or make radical structural modifications in their residence. How the affected patients can continue sharing the same house with their families, while meeting their own special requirements, is thus rising as a critical issue. Household and daily routine rearrangements, either temporary or permanent, may be necessary, to ameliorate the life of patients with impairments, lasting for months or even years. Objectives: Interior design may timely provide a highly efficient ‘"living" palliation for debilitating medical conditions directly at patients' home-site. Methods: Research of relevant literature, using keywords as ‘"debilitating conditions,’" "home care,’" ‘"end of life care,’" ‘"care of advanced cancer patients,’" "care of patients with mental disorders,’" ‘"home care of covid-19 affected patients,’" and "care of patients with degenerative illnesses.’" Results: We found out that patients and their relatives may not be aware of the probable interior design solutions to their daily life challenges, imposed by a disease-related impairment. In parallel, interior design experts may equally be unaware of these issues, as well as of who is in need of the available solutions. Similarly, medical and architectural sciences are not connected, eventually failing to meet patients’ everyday needs.

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http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

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DOI

https://doi.org/10.1089/pmr.2021.0031

Repository URI

https://pureportal.strath.ac.uk/en/publications/interior-design-a-new-perspective-in-supportive-care-of-patients-