The number of people seeking help for disorders such as depression, anxiety, substance abuse, PTSD and bipolar disorder has risen steadily over the last ten years.
Therefore, it is important to create safe spaces within your behavioural health centre that enable sufferers to become more calm and relaxed.
One way to do this is to use thoughtful furniture, such as mental health tables that are functional, safe and very durable.
However, it is not just a matter of buying and arranging them in a room as you see fit. When designing your safe space, you should take the time to understand what type of furniture you need and why it is so important.
In this post, we’ll highlight some of the factors you should consider.
1. Designed with physical safety in mind
Depending on the patients you see, each type of space you want to furnish will have a different level of risk associated with it. Therefore, when it comes to designing their layout, you will need to make appropriate choices in terms of its design.
Ideally, you should incorporate clear lines of sight between staff and patients. Additionally, you should choose fixtures and fittings that can’t be used in a way to harm or self-harm.
To do this, you need to be mindful of aspects such as their weight and cleanability, as well as whether they have puncture or tamper-proof features.
2. Strike a proper balance between safety, privacy and social interaction
When selecting furniture to fill each room of your behavioural centre you’ll need to strike a balancing act between finding pieces that safeguard against the potential for harm or self-harm but also offer the privacy of personal space. This is important because you want your patient to feel at ease.
Additionally, you will also need to make sure the furniture, and your design, support therapies associated with social interaction to make them much more effective.
3. Create a welcoming environment that promotes psychological safety
Your spaces must be viewed by patients as warm and welcoming, as this will go a long way towards making them feel psychologically safe.
A great way to do this is to incorporate artwork and decor that evokes the tranquillity of nature. This can include plants such as lavender, peace lilies, English Ivy and aloe vera, which are believed to have positive benefits for mental health.
Additionally, natural elements like stone and wood (or at least decor techniques that resemble them) are also excellent ways to normalise the patient’s treatment experience and, therefore, enable them to maintain their self-respect and dignity.
4. Facilitate positive distractions
Not all distractions are bad. So, you should be mindful of what positive distractions you can incorporate into your design spaces to maximise their effectiveness.
Firstly, you should provide your patients with places to store their personal belongings. But beyond that, you may also consider picking furniture that rocks or glides to create a comforting movement.
Additionally, looking for relaxing artwork that is tamper-resistant and setting up spaces with as much natural light as possible is a good idea. If you can also provide patients with access to outside areas such as gardens or courtyards, then all the better.
5. Offer patients control and choice
In any space aimed at helping those suffering from mental health issues, it is important to offer patients a good degree of control and choice.
This could include which type of seating area they want to be in and with what posture to adopt, for instance, laying down on a lounge bed or sitting up in an armchair. It may also incorporate giving them control over the space in terms of sound and lighting.
You should also set up de-escalation and sensory rooms to be safe spaces where patients can work out their anxieties and decompress their emotions.
6. Design spaces that facilitate therapeutic interactions
It is important to design spaces with thoughtful furniture that enables caregivers and patients to best relate to each other.
The objective here is two-fold. Patients, of course, need to feel safe and welcome within the space. But equally, clinicians will need to be able to show empathy and support whilst conveying respect.
7. Ensure the space is flexible
It is important to remember that one size does not fit all when it comes to creating a safe space for mental health patients.
For this reason, you should choose furniture that is versatile and flexible, and the uses can be transformed into a room to fit different scenarios.
Photo by Curtis Adams: https://www.pexels.com/photo/waiting-area-next-to-the-entrance-to-a-building-5008395/
Recent Comments