Base de données de recherche des TNO

Régions: Inuvialuit Settlement Region, Gwich'in Settlement Area

étiquettes: social sciences, well-being, health care, elders

Objectif(s): To design culturally appropriate long-term care facilities for the Beaufort Delta region of NWT.

Description du projet: The first goal of the project is to design culturally appropriate long-term care facilities for the Beaufort Delta region of NWT. Many models for long-term care are transplanted from the south where the traditions and social norms around aging and dying may differ significantly. By engaging in discussions with the community in Inuvik the research team can weigh the pros and cons of various designs. By speaking with the community the Principal Investigator (PI) hopes to identify the problems; what specific hurdles do they face in receiving long-term care? What aspects of their culture are not being addressed in the current system and its facilities? How can design address these problems? The second goal is to design for a true continuum of care in the northern communities of the NWT. The healthcare system offers in-home care and support, but once the move to a long-term care facility is necessary the system cannot provide facilities within every community (due to issues of staffing and financial feasibility) and relocation becomes necessary. The relocation of Elders not only isolates them and disrupts their lifestyle, it removes them from their communities. It is at this point in the system that there is hope for better options. The research team can identify precedents which resonate with local approaches to health, healing, aging and dying. And where precedents are lacking, the team can start to imagine new solutions through discussion. Because architecture is inherently a discourse between a designer and a client, community discussions can simulate the client-architect relationship and the participants can take an active role in the outcome. In this way the research team can develop a community informed architectural initiative for long-term care in northern Canada. The community consultations in Inuvik and Tuktoyaktuk will take the form of a community event with catered food and beverages. The PI will give a presentation of the project, precedents that exist, and the various designs that the PI is working on. Participants will be invited to give their opinions and feedback about these designs. The PI will also be asking questions about their experience of long-term care facilities to get an understanding of what improvements they would like to see. The PI will also be asking questions about cultural practices that might influence the design of the building. The community discussion event is entirely interested in local participation. The event is being organized under the guidance of the Elders Coordinator at the Ingamo Hall Friendship Centre in Inuvik, so it will take place a local community centre and the funding provides for a catered event, which will bring business to a local caterer. The hope is that the event will foster discussion and get the community visioning together what their needs and wants are in regards to long-term care. After the thesis presentation the PI will spend another two weeks compiling the information from discussions, and a full set of architectural drawings, diagrams and designs into a booklet. The booklet will be sent back to the Elder Coordinator and Recreation Manager, who will make it accessible to the community. The fieldwork for this study will be conducted from October 11, 2018 to October 19, 2018.