New Masters Degree Module in Architecture and Wellbeing

Posted on: November 8th, 2016 by matthew_bacon

Dr Matthew Bacon has been working with the Schools of the Built Environment, School of Nursing, Midwifery, Social Work & Social Sciences, and Health Sciences at the University of Salford to develop a unique Masters degree module in Architecture and Wellbeing.  Bacon has long held the view that a rich ground for innovation can often arise at the interface between very different professional disciplines. This has been the foundation of much of the work in The Conclude Consultancy (TCC).

In their drive for low energy hospital performance, TCC has identified the compelling need to develop the skills required to translate the needs of clinical professionals into requirements for hospital planning and engineering design. However, this is not a ‘one-way’ process, because planning and engineering teams can add much value in a challenging process and so the need is to translate opportunities into the impact on clinical space, environmental strategies and of course clinical delivery processes. Innovation works both ways.

However, it is a sad reality that few professionals are either equipped with the knowledge and expertise needed to facilitate such a dialogue. Few are equipped to understand decision-making processes in either domain (architecture) or health (wellbeing) and how one potentially impacts the other. As we drive for challenging targets in low energy performance  in the built environment it is obvious that buildings of the near future will have to be very different from those of today – but at what cost to the user and user wellbeing?

This programme is designed to answer questions such as these. It is designed to educate a new generation of post-graduate architects, engineers and health professionals in the practices necessary to create an integrated process where they learn the skills necessary for effective communication, decision-making and requirements management. The programme will bring together clinicians and health professionals from the Nursing leadership management programme with the Architecture and Wellbeing programme into a collaborative environment where both set of students work together to solve classic issues of contemporary hospital planning and design.

Please do contact us through our contact page or alternatively, Prof. Oren Lieberman at the University of Salford (o.r.lieberman@salford.ac.uk), should you wish to find out more about this exciting offer.