Environment… as Medicine? Understanding the Various Ways that Architecture Supports Wellbeing

Recorded April 13, 2023. A lecture by Dr Rebecca McLaughlan
(University of Sydney) as part of the Medical and Health Humanities
Seminar Series. McLaughlin's research investigates the relationship
of the environment to wellbeing; how do healthcare environments
make people feel, and how do can they best support staff in the
delivery of patient care? Once we have this research, how can it be
successfully translated into practice? While evidence-based design
has refocused attention on the relationship between the built
environment and wellbeing, it also tends to obscure knowledge from
other disciplines, and from history, that would otherwise enrich
contemporary understandings of this relationship. In this talk,
she'll discuss the different theoretical frameworks being used to
understand how the built environment impacts wellbeing, drawing
upon examples from her own work across various paediatric,
palliative and mental health care settings. Rebecca McLaughlan,
PhD, is a Senior Lecturer at the School of Architecture, Design and
Planning, the University of Sydney, Australia. She is also an
Australian Research Council DECRA Research Fellow, currently funded
to investigate the relationship of palliative care facilities to
patient, family and staff wellbeing. Learn more at:
https://www.tcd.ie/trinitylongroomhub/