Designing dying-in-place
Lead Research Organisation:
CARDIFF UNIVERSITY
Abstract
Designing dying-in-place
Addressing the needs of an ageing population is an increasingly important global challenge, particularly in relation to health issues and the complexities surrounding death. In the UK, there are ongoing discussions about end-of-life, such as debates around assisted dying and funding for hospice care and social services. The National Health Service is also focused on reducing hospital stays since hospital beds are hugely over-subscribed and expensive (costing £901 per day per person for non-elective care).
This research will help to understand the qualities of place where older people (defined as those over 60 years old by the United Nations) die. In the past, most people in Europe died at home, but this changed in the mid-19th century, and now less than a third of deaths in England and Wales happen at home. Most people die in hospitals or care institutions, which are often not ideal places for death. Our research goal is to understand how design can be used to create environments for dying-in-place, a concept from palliative care that has yet to be fully explored in architecture. The project has three objectives: (i) to review existing research on dying-in-place, as well as cultural attitudes toward death, (ii) to gather experiences of dying at home from different cultures in Wales, through feedback from carers, and (iii) to provide insights for architects on how to design homes that better support people who want to die at home.
A key benefit of the project will be the development of understanding drawn from real-life experiences of dying at home in Wales, particularly from diverse communities that are underrepresented in previous research. The research will respond to the questions: (i) What do people want in the place where they die? (ii) What are the environmental barriers to dying at home? (iii) How can architects help design better homes for dying-in-place? In the short term this project will bring to light housing case studies and care stories that are currently overlooked and under heard. Recording and sharing the experiences of carers, including informal care workers, will provide valuable insights into what is needed. Designers will benefit from gaining access to remote experiences through stories that foreground place and the environmental attributes of care. Furthermore, visual methods will be used to develop illustrative material to help communicate what dying-in-place at home means. In the long term, this work could inform the production of design guidelines that influence policy, much like the ‘Lifetime Homes’ standard that was incorporated into UK building regulations. The insights gained from this project could also be applied to other settings, such as residential care homes.
This project will bring an architectural perspective to the current debate surrounding the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill, with a particular focus on the material and spatial needs and aspirations for dying-in-place. By addressing the issue of death through architectural design, the research could help improve the quality of life and death for people and ease the pressure on NHS hospitals.
Addressing the needs of an ageing population is an increasingly important global challenge, particularly in relation to health issues and the complexities surrounding death. In the UK, there are ongoing discussions about end-of-life, such as debates around assisted dying and funding for hospice care and social services. The National Health Service is also focused on reducing hospital stays since hospital beds are hugely over-subscribed and expensive (costing £901 per day per person for non-elective care).
This research will help to understand the qualities of place where older people (defined as those over 60 years old by the United Nations) die. In the past, most people in Europe died at home, but this changed in the mid-19th century, and now less than a third of deaths in England and Wales happen at home. Most people die in hospitals or care institutions, which are often not ideal places for death. Our research goal is to understand how design can be used to create environments for dying-in-place, a concept from palliative care that has yet to be fully explored in architecture. The project has three objectives: (i) to review existing research on dying-in-place, as well as cultural attitudes toward death, (ii) to gather experiences of dying at home from different cultures in Wales, through feedback from carers, and (iii) to provide insights for architects on how to design homes that better support people who want to die at home.
A key benefit of the project will be the development of understanding drawn from real-life experiences of dying at home in Wales, particularly from diverse communities that are underrepresented in previous research. The research will respond to the questions: (i) What do people want in the place where they die? (ii) What are the environmental barriers to dying at home? (iii) How can architects help design better homes for dying-in-place? In the short term this project will bring to light housing case studies and care stories that are currently overlooked and under heard. Recording and sharing the experiences of carers, including informal care workers, will provide valuable insights into what is needed. Designers will benefit from gaining access to remote experiences through stories that foreground place and the environmental attributes of care. Furthermore, visual methods will be used to develop illustrative material to help communicate what dying-in-place at home means. In the long term, this work could inform the production of design guidelines that influence policy, much like the ‘Lifetime Homes’ standard that was incorporated into UK building regulations. The insights gained from this project could also be applied to other settings, such as residential care homes.
This project will bring an architectural perspective to the current debate surrounding the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill, with a particular focus on the material and spatial needs and aspirations for dying-in-place. By addressing the issue of death through architectural design, the research could help improve the quality of life and death for people and ease the pressure on NHS hospitals.
People |
ORCID iD |
| Sam Clark (Principal Investigator) | |
| Annie Bellamy (Co-Investigator) |