- Title
- Receptive Arts Engagement for Health: A Holistic and Trans-Disciplinary Approach to Creating a Multisensory Environment
- Creator
- Cavanagh, Bliss; Haracz, Kirsti; Lawry, Miranda; James, Carole
- Relation
- Sage Open Vol. 10, Issue 4, p. 1-14
- Publisher Link
- http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/2158244020978420
- Publisher
- Sage
- Resource Type
- journal article
- Date
- 2020
- Description
- Multisensory environments are increasingly being used in health care settings with reported benefits including relaxation, supporting self-regulation, enhancing mood, and reducing chronic pain. However, limited research exists that explores the impact of multisensory environment design on engagement. In response, this article presents a qualitative study exploring the creative design attributes that cultivated participant engagement and shaped their overall experience of spending time in an artistically created multisensory environment: the Sensory-Art Space (SAS). A maximum variation approach to sampling was used to select 18 participants. Data were gathered via semi-structured interviews and were audio-recorded and transcribed verbatim before being analyzed thematically. Our findings produced three key themes. The first two themes were: the ambience of everything and variation: it’s always my choice, which identified aspects of the artistic design that fostered engagement and the sense of connection and ownership of the SAS captured in the third theme, a space that’s yours. Based on analysis of participant responses, creative design considerations were identified that could assist the development of future multisensory spaces and highlighted the importance of a holistic and curatorial approach to enhance engagement value.
- Subject
- restorative environments; multisensory; engagement; ambience; sensory rooms; qualitative interviews
- Identifier
- http://hdl.handle.net/1959.13/1444354
- Identifier
- uon:42285
- Identifier
- ISSN:2158-2440
- Language
- eng
- Reviewed
- Hits: 573
- Visitors: 573
- Downloads: 0