THE INTEGRATION OF MOBILE PSYCHOSOCIAL CARE
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Exploring the Design Concept Attach/Detach There is a specific behavioral and emotional pattern that occurs during disaster relief efforts: attaching and detaching. Due to the role that a sense of place plays in the healing process of mental disorder symptoms, patients must emotionally attach to a new environment to heal and overcome their symptoms. Once the patients have healed and are healthy, they must also be able to detach themselves from the environment. In addition, staff must also attach to patients, who are in constant need of their help, assistance, advice, and constant supervision. The reoccurring needs of patients may become stressful and overwhelming to staff, so they must systematically detach from their working environment, problems related with their patients, and the disturbing reality of their surroundings. Elements of emotional attachment to place could be seen as a direct connection to the built and natural environments that encourage the patient’s healing and wellness. Without a patient’s proper place attachment, a decrease in their symptoms may not be able to occur. A creation of a sense of place, which is a form of attachment, must occur through the presence of objects and spaces that are most important to children; those are design elements that resemble or reference home, school, nature, and play. Elements of place detachment on the other hand, can be seen as an opportunity to encourage independence, while learning and growing. Once place detachment has occurred, a patient can leave the facility, ready to start a new life due to successfully overcoming the symptoms of their mental disorders. The design concept can be identified through the implementation of agile architectural solutions as well as a variety of design elements: patterns found in materiality (See Figure 12),