Design by default
Everything around you right now was chosen by someone, from the colour of the desk and walls to the lights in the ceiling and the handles on the door. Even ‘just using what was there’ is a design decision. Just design by default.
And, intentional or not, those choices are shaping your ability to focus and feel at home and sending subtle signals about culture and expectations – to use Seth Godin’s brilliant definition, signalling that ‘people like us do things like this’ – Of course they’re wrong.
Preparing a presentation for Camira as part of Clerkenwell Design Week on Wednesday, I came across this fascinating paper by Prof Svein Åge Kjøs Johnsen from Norway. Pointing to inconsistencies and gaps in a number of mainstream theories about how we respond to our environment (biophilic design, prospect and refuge and attention restoration theory, for example), he suggests an alternative unifying framework he calls ‘environmental resource theory’ – Environmental resource theory: An integrative perspective on human habitat preferences and emotional responses to the environment.
Johnsen proposes that we seek out spaces that are not only resource-rich, but where we believe we can easily access them ourselves. As we spend time in a setting, we get better at accessing those resources, perhaps even cultivating new amenities and networks ourselves to create what he calls a ‘niche’ or identity linked to place. This in turn generates prosocial behaviours and loyalty that can keep us rooted long after the initial conditions for the choice are gone. Johnsen argues that asking us to choose between natural and urban images on a screen or even in virtual reality is a false dichotomy and misses the central point of these intuitive decisions – does this place look as though it’s got the things I need to do what I came here for – and do I believe I can get hold of them relatively easily and without a fight?
For me, this framework offers a valuable bridge between a purely neurological explanation of responses to light: the physiological (alerting responses to light, stress response to flicker and glare, retinal responses to the visible spectrum etc), perception-based preferences (gestalt rules, bias for convex shapes and horizontal/vertical orientations, fractal properties of natural scenes, for example) and principles of inclusive design, where care, choice and control may be at least as important as the structural qualities of the space itself.
I believe the session on Wednesday 20th May at 3pm is sold out, but please do send me a message if you’re in Clerkenwell and would like to come along – or if you’d just like to find a time to say ‘hi’.
A green cure for dementia?
I love this time of year. The plants (and the weeds) on my allotment are going completely bonkers, and just popping over the road for 15 minutes to see the shoots barging out of the soil is enough to clear a blurry brain every time.
The local mental health charity, Harmony, runs the patch next to mine, and you can just show up for one of the regular low or no cost ‘grow your own food’ or gentle work party sessions, or get stuck into the seed library project with the gifted green-fingered Steve and the Allotment Society. No tools or skills (or even fitness) required.
There’s growing evidence to support what millions of us have known for a while – growing stuff is good for you – just taking care of plants indoors can improve sleep, reduce agitation, stress and even make participants more likely to take their medication – Perspective of the Multisensory Interior Garden for the Older People.
Another large-scale literature review noted that gardening interventions consistently improve psychosocial well-being, mood, and reduced BPSD’ (Behavioural and Psychological Symptoms of Dementia). But, just as important, they give hard-pressed caregivers a helping hand too, reducing psychological distress and boosting social support.’ – Nature-based approaches to dementia, cognitive impairment, and caregiver well-being: A scoping review of gardening and therapeutic strategies.
I’m biased, of course, but it does seem to me that some of the benefits of gardening are likely to come from simply spending time outside in the fresh air in daylight – bright, glare- and flicker-free, electromagnetic radiation across the visible spectrum and beyond.
So why do most people living in residential care spend so little time outside – let alone have the chance to potter about in the garden? A classic paper suggests that even nursing home residents who were physically able to get outside, around one in three went outdoors less than once per month, and only one in five made it outside every day – As Great as All Outdoors.
Dr Madeleine Lillegren’s recent research builds on recent papers that describe systemic barriers to access, from risk-averse cultures and schedules that simply don’t dedicate enough time or resources to make these activities happen, to physical issues like heavy doors and steep thresholds and poorly-maintained paths – Understanding the Barriers and Enablers to Using Outdoor Spaces in Nursing Homes: A Systematic Review.
Madeleine’s work goes one step further to offer a practical zone-based approach to classifying levels of connection with the natural world, from windows and outside views in zone one, balconies in zone two, patios and terraces in the third with gardens in zone four – Outdoor stays—A basic human need except for older adults in residential care facilities? Researcher-practitioner interaction crosses zones and shows the way out.
She and her colleague Professor Helle Wijk are now developing recommendations and guidelines for the Swedish Government along with an evaluation framework and a toolkit to support access for all. This is part of the new Forte-funded DEMSAM project in Gothenburg. I’m privileged to be part of that team and see this approach applied to the new facility in Nordanstig as part of my collaboration with Evidy – Two new research centres to strengthen knowledge on dementia.
I’m hoping that, by the time I need to give up my allotment and move into care, the sector will be enlightened enough to create safe and simple ways for me to get outside – and a few pots or a raised bed where I can plant a lettuce or two.
Hope you manage to have a chat with some plants today too.