The authors describe the redesign and evaluation of a 30-bed psychiatric
unit. The design approach was user oriented, employing a
psychoenvironmental model that postulates an interaction between the
physical environment and the psychotherapeutic milieu. Objective and
subjective instruments demonstrated that environmental redesign based on
this model correlated with behavioral changes in clinically desirable
directions. These changes also correlated with reduced psychopathology and
might have been facilitated by "social organizers," design solutions that
encourage social interaction focused on ward activities.Abstract Teaser