Abstract:
Hospice is a system which provides care to terminally ill patients at the end of their lives and supports their families in the bereavement process. It includes nursing care, psychosocial and spiritual care for the patient and family. It is built on the nursing model and concentrates on care and comfort until death, in contrast to the medical model of care, which is based on cure. Hospice emphasizes palliative rather than curative treatment; quality rather than quantity of life. The dying is comforted. Professional medical care is given, and sophisticated symptom relief provided.
In Pakistan, the concept of palliative care is new and needs a lot of attention. There are no modern-day hospices in Pakistan that can focus on the physical, emotional, psychological and social well-being of the patients with life limiting illnesses. These illnesses may include, cardiovascular diseases, respiratory diseases, cancer, diabetes mellitus and mental health illnesses.
Architecturally a Hospice is more like a home but not really a home. It’s like a hospital with inpatients but not really a hospital. It is a non-type. The main aim of this project is to propose a space; Hospice, with a care centric approach and a humane design rather than one with an institutional approach like hospitals. Its primary goal is to provide therapeutic and healing environment for patients in the last phase of their lives, keeping their emotional state in mind. The role of sensory architecture in providing healing environments in being explored in this project. Programmatically, emergency medical facilities, therapeutic and meditative spaces, inpatient rooms, visiting areas, socializing spaces, and bereavement spaces will be provided.
