Better Mental Healthcare Through the Built Environment

Abstract

This paper addresses the issue of the built environment’s effect on mental health. It begins with an overview of the state of mental health in Canada, and what factors cause mental illness. The subject of healthcare facility design is then addressed. How a mental healthcare facility may affect one’s mental health is discussed in regard to various factors. The subject of interdisciplinarity is introduced, and why healthcare facility design should be tackled interdisciplinarily is discussed. This is illustrated with two examples of interdisciplinary teams that design therapeutic environments.