ObjectiveThis study explored how built space plays out in palliative care, focusing on spatial aspects that could support or hamper patients’, relatives’ and caregivers’ well-being.MethodsThis study was conducted in a freestanding small-scale hospice combining a residential part for eight guests with a day-care part for groups of about five persons. Observations were combined with semistructured, individual interviews with eight guests (sometimes accompanied by relatives) and three focus-group interviews with staff, volunteers and relatives. All interviews were audio-recorded and transcribed verbatim. Data were analysed based on the Qualitative Analysis Guide of Leuven.ResultsThe most important spatial aspects that impact on physical and social well-being in palliative care turned out to be the building scale and physical proximity. The small-scale setting counters the (often negative) association of palliative care with hospital environments. When the medical condition of the guest allows, it makes communal or outdoor spaces reachable, which enhances emotional and social well-being. In worse conditions, it still makes that care and nature are always nearby. The compactness of communal spaces intensifies social contacts.ConclusionsThe building scale and physical proximity play out in the relationship between the building and its surroundings, between the residential and the day-care parts and among people within the building. Future research could investigate to what extent these spatial aspects are relevant in more conventional palliative care units or even in general hospital wards.

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The Research[x]Design group comprises researchers with diverse disciplinary backgrounds and research approaches. Data collection, often involving people in vulnerable situations and/or sensitive contexts, requires significant investments (effort, time); data are rich in ways valuable both for subsequent investigations and to inform

People’s health and well-being is known to be affected by the built environment. Since prisons are confronted with an overrepresentation of people with mental and physical health issues, we examine how the built prison environment affects the provision of care for prisoners with specific needs. Based on observations and (focus group) interviews with prisoners, prison officers, and care-staff, we report on the experiences of specific groups in highly particular prison environments: various pavilions of a former penal colony. By analyzing spatialities in relation to practices and temporalities of care, we provide a nuanced understanding of what caring entails in a prison environment. We show that in this context caring for safety, normality, and physical health ideally go hand in hand. To conclude, we illustrate that the need for control within a prison environment can be reduced by spatial variety, offering different types of settings matching different care and living needs, and allowing movement between settings depending on these needs.