Effectively including the voice of residents in care home design

Care home residents are key stakeholders in residential care homes and yet are rarely included in decision making. This study’s objective was to capture the opinions of care home residents and report on their responses to questions regarding care home life. Residents were asked about their views and observations regarding what aspects of the environment were important, why were they important and if the care home environment supported or inhibited their preferred activities in the home. A visual research method was designed to encompass these research questions, acting as an interview-prompt to engage residents. A new ethical consent procedure was also devised for use with care home residents. Residents’ exercised their critical capacities, reporting in detail on ways care home environments enabled or inhibited choice. Participants revealed how loss of autonomy and personal decision-making undermined their identity and adult choice-making abilities. Social interaction was reportedly vital and visitors highly important. Resident-to-resident relationships were difficult. Privacy was essential. The qualitative analyses highlight the ability of residents to not only participate but to also offer solutions to problems they identified. The role design can play to redress environmental deficits is discussed.