At its AGM held at IHEEM’s Healthcare Estates 2016 event in Manchester in October, the Design In Mental Health Network announced the appointment of new members of the board of DIMHN.
President, Joe Forster, explained: “As posts run for a fixed term, a proportion of directors retire by rotation every year. Denise Parker and Dr Evangelia Chrysikou did not stand for reelection, and we thanked them for their service to the Network. We hope they will continue to participate actively in DIMHN as members. We are delighted that Philip Ross is reappointed as director, and that Jeff Bartle and Paula Reavey have become our new directors.”
Jeff Bartle, head of Design at St Andrew’s Healthcare, is well known to members as a presenter at DIMHN events, and as a significant figure in the field, with a track record of involving service-users and promoting quality design, while Professor Paula Reavey, Professor of Psychology and Course director, MSc in Mental Health and Clinical Psychology, at London South Bank University, is a senior academic who gave a paper at the 2016 DIMHN conference.
Joe Forster said: “Professor Reavey’s perspective is particularly concerned with the way contexts shape what we think and feel – this includes physical spaces, just as much as the broader cultural and social environment.” She added: “What has struck me most is how important it is for patients and staff to feel connected with others, and for spaces to forge connections, rather than break them down. Making places brighter, more spacious, and safe is a key part of this aim, but I think the task is far greater – how to design spaces that facilitate better relations, better conversations, and a sense of shared experience and community. My hope is to nurture a partnership between service-users, psychologists, designers, and all others involved, to think through the issue of how to make these aims a reality.”