Our team, ALT ARCHITECTURE + RESEARCH ASSOCIATES, consists of architects, psychosocial design researchers, a child psychiatrist and an artist comprising a team to implement a comprehensive evidence-based design methodology. This novel approach utilizes workshops and focus groups to create a Communal Healing Sanctuary component within a hospital or community setting such as a school.
A Communal Healing Sanctuary provides patients, family members, caregivers, and community multiple healing pathways within a narrative framework. Communal Healing Sanctuary components would be integrated into surrounding hospital facilities to assure a comprehensive healing narrative. As envisioned, the Communal Healing Sanctuary would serve the provision of clinical, psychosocial, and spiritual care, to promote the healing of physical and emotional disparities among its inhabitants.
ALT ARCHITECTURE + RESEARCH ASSOCIATES designs Communal Healing Sanctuaries to accommodate patients of all faiths, ethnic groups and social support systems. We recognize that the majority of patients will have the support of family and friends while attempting to overcome illness. However, there are also many instances of patients with no family or social support systems. We acknowledge environment as an asset to patients, caregivers, families, and friends to create an uplifting, nurturing, and empathetic aesthetic promoting hope and possibilities for well being.
In addition, the Communal Healing Sanctuary environment provides a framework encouraging empathy between patients and their caregivers and community. This framework creates an extended family for patients, especially important for patients battling an illness without the support of family and friends. Activities conducive to contemplation, spirituality, and community building will enhance a patient’s ability to heal and a caregiver's ability to deliver essential medical services.
The architectural team will utilize input from workshop participants to develop a conceptual master plan that will specify Communal Healing Sanctuary components. There are three construction scenarios possible for implementation: a new hospital, as a component in a large addition, and an added component to an existing facility. The master plan will then be refined by patient and clinician focus groups in order to integrate stakeholders’ perspectives about the optimal spatial design for the delivery of medical care within the Communal Healing Sanctuary.
A Communal Healing Sanctuary provides patients, family members, caregivers, and community multiple healing pathways within a narrative framework. Communal Healing Sanctuary components would be integrated into surrounding hospital facilities to assure a comprehensive healing narrative. As envisioned, the Communal Healing Sanctuary would serve the provision of clinical, psychosocial, and spiritual care, to promote the healing of physical and emotional disparities among its inhabitants.
ALT ARCHITECTURE + RESEARCH ASSOCIATES designs Communal Healing Sanctuaries to accommodate patients of all faiths, ethnic groups and social support systems. We recognize that the majority of patients will have the support of family and friends while attempting to overcome illness. However, there are also many instances of patients with no family or social support systems. We acknowledge environment as an asset to patients, caregivers, families, and friends to create an uplifting, nurturing, and empathetic aesthetic promoting hope and possibilities for well being.
In addition, the Communal Healing Sanctuary environment provides a framework encouraging empathy between patients and their caregivers and community. This framework creates an extended family for patients, especially important for patients battling an illness without the support of family and friends. Activities conducive to contemplation, spirituality, and community building will enhance a patient’s ability to heal and a caregiver's ability to deliver essential medical services.
The architectural team will utilize input from workshop participants to develop a conceptual master plan that will specify Communal Healing Sanctuary components. There are three construction scenarios possible for implementation: a new hospital, as a component in a large addition, and an added component to an existing facility. The master plan will then be refined by patient and clinician focus groups in order to integrate stakeholders’ perspectives about the optimal spatial design for the delivery of medical care within the Communal Healing Sanctuary.
