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What about furniture in Swedish Nursing Homes? A Design Perspective on Perceived Meanings within the Physical Environment

Jonsson, Oskar LU orcid ; Östlund, Britt LU ; Dalholm Hornyánszky, Elisabeth LU and Warell, Anders LU (2014) In Journal of Interior Design 39(2). p.17-35
Abstract
There are good reasons to believe that furniture designers can play an important role in the design of appropriate caring environments and thus contribute to the care that is provided. Designers are usually engaged by manufacturers that develop furniture for public procurement and a market for elderly consumers but without being able to learn from those who spend their everyday lives in these environments. This paper is based on industrial design and presents a study that explores the relationships between people and furniture in nursing homes. Thematic interviews were carried out with residents and personnel, in total twenty-one participants. A go-along method was utilized in parts of the interviews with the residents. The empirical study... (More)
There are good reasons to believe that furniture designers can play an important role in the design of appropriate caring environments and thus contribute to the care that is provided. Designers are usually engaged by manufacturers that develop furniture for public procurement and a market for elderly consumers but without being able to learn from those who spend their everyday lives in these environments. This paper is based on industrial design and presents a study that explores the relationships between people and furniture in nursing homes. Thematic interviews were carried out with residents and personnel, in total twenty-one participants. A go-along method was utilized in parts of the interviews with the residents. The empirical study was carried out in three nursing homes in Stockholm. The results prove that elderly people strive for a sense of home in their private rooms in contrast to shared rooms and that the perspectives on furniture differ between the elderly people and the personnel. The conclusion is that understanding the role of furniture at nursing homes can help to reinforce the identity of elderly residents and their needs of continuity and social and existential safety. The recommendations are to involve the experiences of elderly people in the design processes and to make more informed furniture investment decisions for nursing homes. (Less)
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author
; ; and
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
keywords
Nursing homes, furniture, experience
in
Journal of Interior Design
volume
39
issue
2
pages
17 - 35
publisher
John Wiley & Sons Inc.
external identifiers
  • wos:000337571900003
  • scopus:84902003317
ISSN
1071-7641
DOI
10.1111/joid.12028
project
Development of the Swedish Wood and Furniture Industry for Consumer Oriented and Competitive PLUS-products
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
b8e0a15b-ab6f-461c-90ae-0a89977e3505 (old id 4389040)
date added to LUP
2016-04-01 10:47:13
date last changed
2022-04-28 01:23:24
@article{b8e0a15b-ab6f-461c-90ae-0a89977e3505,
  abstract     = {{There are good reasons to believe that furniture designers can play an important role in the design of appropriate caring environments and thus contribute to the care that is provided. Designers are usually engaged by manufacturers that develop furniture for public procurement and a market for elderly consumers but without being able to learn from those who spend their everyday lives in these environments. This paper is based on industrial design and presents a study that explores the relationships between people and furniture in nursing homes. Thematic interviews were carried out with residents and personnel, in total twenty-one participants. A go-along method was utilized in parts of the interviews with the residents. The empirical study was carried out in three nursing homes in Stockholm. The results prove that elderly people strive for a sense of home in their private rooms in contrast to shared rooms and that the perspectives on furniture differ between the elderly people and the personnel. The conclusion is that understanding the role of furniture at nursing homes can help to reinforce the identity of elderly residents and their needs of continuity and social and existential safety. The recommendations are to involve the experiences of elderly people in the design processes and to make more informed furniture investment decisions for nursing homes.}},
  author       = {{Jonsson, Oskar and Östlund, Britt and Dalholm Hornyánszky, Elisabeth and Warell, Anders}},
  issn         = {{1071-7641}},
  keywords     = {{Nursing homes; furniture; experience}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  number       = {{2}},
  pages        = {{17--35}},
  publisher    = {{John Wiley & Sons Inc.}},
  series       = {{Journal of Interior Design}},
  title        = {{What about furniture in Swedish Nursing Homes? A Design Perspective on Perceived Meanings within the Physical Environment}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/joid.12028}},
  doi          = {{10.1111/joid.12028}},
  volume       = {{39}},
  year         = {{2014}},
}