University of Tasmania, Australia

The theme area of architecture and health is situated in the broad research cluster of sustainability within the School of Architecture and Design, emphasising the social aspects of community and wellbeing. The relationship between health and place is recognised as an area of research strength within the School with a particular emphasis on mental health. Current funded projects include:

1.The Role of Informal Community Resources in Supporting Independent Housing for Young   People Recovering from Mental Illness: A Guide for Housing Policy Makers and Practitioners

2.At Home with Autism

3.Dementia Enabling Environments Project (DEEP)

The AHURI funded project “The Role of Informal Community Resources in Supporting Independent Housing for Young People Recovering from Mental Illness: A Guide for Housing Policy Makers and Practitioners” has three key aims: to explore how housing policy interventions can strengthen the array of informal resources available in communities to support stable housing for youth in recovery; to determine the role of these informal resources in promoting social inclusion, economic opportunities, health and wellbeing for youth in recovery; and to identify the neighbourhood factors that can moderate the risk of homelessness for youth in recovery.

“At Home with Autism” is a pilot research project undertaken in collaboration with the School of Nursing and Midwifery. It employs the visual-based method of self-directed photography to explore how adaptations to the family home to support the care of children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) impact on the wellbeing of carers through transforming meanings of ‘home’.

The Alzheimer’s Australia funded project, “Dementia Enabling Environments Project”, will develop, promote and deliver an interconnected suite of initiatives to inform, educate and support the development and implementation of enabling environments in order to make significant differences to the quality of life of people living with dementia.

Cameron Duff, Stephen Loo, Shane Murray, Keith Jacobs and Naida Alic, The Role of Informal Community Resources in Supporting Independent Housing for Young People Recovering from Mental Illness, Positioning Paper No. 144, AHURI (Melbourne, 2011)

Cameron Duff, Shane Murray, Naida Alic, Stephen Loo, Keith Jacobs, “Investigating the role of informal community resources in supporting stable housing for young people recovering from mental illness”, Homelessness Research Conference, AHURI, (Melbourne, April 2012)

Roger Fay and Ceridwen Owen, “‘Home’ in the aged care institution: authentic or ersatz”, AicE-Bs 2011 Famagusta (Asia Pacific International Conference on Environment-Behaviour Studies.

Famagusta, North Cyprus, 7-9 December 2011), Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences, Volume 35, pp. 33–43 (2012)

Members (External)

(1) Prof Stephen Loo, Head of School, School of Architecture & Design

(2) Dr Ceridwen Owen, Deputy Head of School, School of Architecture & Design

(3) Prof Roger Fay, Associate Dean International, Faculty of Science, Engineering and Technology