Determination of user-centred design criteria for the formation of therapeutic spaces in community mental health centers in İstanbul

Perception of space is the interpretation by the brain of the information obtained by the senses such as touch, sight, hearing, smell and taste on a mechanical plane. While this represents the physiological dimension of the space; Perceptually, space can be defined as the place that contains the experiences of the individual who creates it. The reason for this is that the space can be shaped in line with the cultural, socioeconomic and psychological data brought by the individual from his/her past. However, the structural setup of the space and the daily practices created in this space can be an important determinant of the human experience in that space. In addition to all these, the culture involved in the process through the individual in the formation phase of the space; It has been in a constant state of transformation with its breaking points in science, art and philosophy. As a result of these breaking points, new cultural movements were formed and these cultural movements reflected the characteristic features of the period. The society's perspective on diseases has also been shaped in line with the characteristic features of the period. Accordingly, the setup of therapeutic spaces has changed in this direction. With one of these breaking points, the individual came to the fore and the human-space interaction began to be investigated on this axis. Thus, the disease itself and its treatment ceased to play a human role in the spatial setting. Along with this, it has been understood that the individual cannot protect his identity in the spaces constructed according to the past norms in the researches on the lived and experienced space. For these reasons, different approaches have been developed for therapeutic spaces. With the healing space, which is one of these approaches, it is aimed to use the space as a therapy element. The remedial space approach in mental health buildings created the idea that treatment and therapy should continue in the community. This situation paved the way for the emergence of Community Mental Health Centers. However, what could be the elements of spatial therapy continued to be the research topic of researchers. Within the scope of the thesis, the answer to this problematic has been shaped by observing the daily practices of the users and trying to make sense of them through interviews. For this, the conceptual framework of the thesis had to be determined and environmental psychology and therapeutic space theories related to user experience in health structures were selected. The models of these theories and the concepts in these models were examined and their intersection points were determined; The conceptual framework of the thesis has been tried to be established. In line with this theoretical framework, Community Mental Health Centers were observed in the thesis field research and interviews were conducted with users. The data obtained from these observations and interviews were combined with architectural data that were considered important during the center visits; Comparisons were made on the tables and the findings were tried to be extracted. One of the design process areas where user experiences are important is user-centred design. In this understanding, the applications made during the process of the formation of the product can be as important as the product that comes out as a result of the design. In this context, it is expected that this process will be managed. According to the findings obtained within the scope of the field research within the scope of the thesis, suggestions have been developed on the principles and procedures of this administrative process for the effective use of the user-centred design approach in Community Mental Health Centers.