Understanding the relationships connecting everyday life, care, and the physical environment in nursing homes – a new collaborative framework

How can we create better nursing homes?

There have been earlier attempts to explore care provision, everyday life, and the physical environment in nursing homes; however, there is a persisting knowledge gap about how these are related. It is important to address this knowledge gap and to develop tools for care and design practices to increase understanding about the complexity of NHs and the consequences of design for nursing home residents and staff. Thus, the overall aim of the project is to provide an in-depth understanding of the relationships that connect the provision of care, the physical environment, and everyday life in nursing homes. The specific aim of the project is to develop a guiding framework as a tool for planning the provision of care, everyday life, and the design of the physical environment in nursing homes.

The project has a collaborative design. Data will be collected through participant observations, workshops and interviews in 12 nursing homes. Architect proposals and drawings will also serve as data. Data will be analysed using a qualitative interpretative approach.

To support its realisation, the project builds on an earlier project and uses a collaborative approach with researchers, partners (i.e., planners, architects, and landscape architects) and stakeholders (i.e., nursing home residents, significant others, staff, and management).

700 new nursing homes need to be built to meet the expected needs of an ageing population in Sweden. The findings from this project, including the guiding framework, will contribute to the planning and design of nursing homes that support care and an enjoyable life for residents and appropriate working environments for staff. Thus, this project is timely and fits into the field of societal issues of relevance for FORTE.

Do you want to know more about the project?
Visit Jönköping University's website.