upporting pre-planning design phases of new dementia care environments through group-modeling

Other conference contribution, 2012

Problem and rationale The pre-design phase, before architectural design details are presented is important for the success of the entire construction process. In this phase, it is important to identify the needs of the users and the organization. The present project describes a group-modeling project with system dynamics (SD) in the pre-design phase of a new dementia care environment. The aim was to support a dynamic design process that was oriented towards the users needs. SD uses models to create scenarios and experiment with different solutions to understand complex problems. The method is interactive and suited for group- modeling. The tools used are a construction of a diagram depicting the system and a mathematical model for scenario experiments. Methods and procedure The group- modeling was performed during five workshops with stakeholders from the organization. The data for the model was collected through discussions with the modeling group, a questionnaire, literature reviews and documents. The process was documented by video-recording and field notes. The participants were interviewed at the end of the project. The data was analyzed by content analysis. Results Result show that the modeling process supported the group to explicitly express their goal regarding care. The modeling process moved the group discussions from space solutions and square meters to the goals of the care process. The model developed illustrates a modern perspective of dementia care. Conclusions Group-modeling using SD is interesting for the pre-design process. It can be feasible for linking strategic planning of the organization with the plan over the new healthcare environment since it moves the participants in the pre-design phase to focus on important issues about the care and away from a wish list of various needed spaces, commonly achieved in traditional planning processes.