Dementia friendly design that is right up your street
Commissioned to design dementia-friendly artwork by Vital Arts and the NHS at a hospital ward in Newham, London. The brief invited all Central Saint Martins students to use design to transform the older adults ward to improve patients, visitors and staff well-being. The ward was home to older-adults recovering from operations and some permanent residents who were receiving on-going treatment. Thistle Ward was your typical hospital ward but was home to patients who needed a little encouragement with their recovery. One of the best methods of recovery from a recent hip operation is movement but as I walked through the ward I could see why people were discouraged from getting up and out of their beds to walk around.
From patients to neighbours
When we met at the hospital for a briefing, we were told to use colour and bring narratives to life using Newham’s rich history. Additionally, we needed to use design and way-finding to encourage patients’ mobility while by being conscious that a considerable number of the patients’ suffer from varying stages of dementia which makes moving around the ward independently a daunting task.
As I walked through Thistle Ward, I found the corridors disorientating because everything looked the same. Every door was uniform and created with the purpose to accommodate beds being transported in and out of rooms, and to ensure all of the features of the ward adhered to the health and safety regulations you would expect to find at a hospital.
I observed a woman who had started walking through the halls, and she was looking for her room. I saw a nurse with their hands full try and navigate her back to her room, and she was lost. I could see the worry on her face and for that moment I felt just as confused and lost as she did.
Welcome to Thistle Street
Working together with Vital Arts and the Newham ward staff, I wanted to know how we could improve every patients experience in the Thistle Ward.
Vital Arts are dedicated to making patients experiences in hospitals a more positive one, they deliver creative art projects to give communities access to art and design. Founded in 1996, Vital Arts has grown into one of the UK’s leading Arts and Health organisations. It has developed an international reputation for producing ambitious and award-winning projects, and pioneering arts programmes that encourage interaction with contemporary art, support wellbeing and transform the clinical experience.
The Solution
The client and hospital board selected my proposal as the winning proposal, and I would be transforming the ward of patients into a neighbourhood; every bay became a front door to bring a sense of home and belonging into the hospital.
The different designs, colours and illustrations, all of which were inspired by the 1940s and for those patients who are diagnosed with dementia, Thistle Street became a way-finding tool, encouraging mobility, community and independence.
WORD ON THE WARD:
“WE ARE DELIGHTED WITH THIS PROJECT TO TRANSFORM THE WARDS, BY USING AN ART STRATEGY THAT WILL CREATE DEMENTIA-FRIENDLY AREAS FOR OUR PATIENTS THAT ARE ALSO PLAYFUL, ENGAGING AND DRIVEN BY GOOD, INTELLIGENT DESIGN BY RECENT CENTRAL ST MARTINS GRADUATES.
“THE PATIENTS AND THEIR RELATIVES ARE PLEASED AND FASCINATED BY IT. ONE PATIENT SAID HE FELT LIKE HE WAS AT HOME!"
PRESS AND MEDIA
University of the Arts London / We Are Ready / NHS / Barts Charity / AkzoNobelUK / Vital Arts
Project Tags
Companies
NHS
- Public Sector
