Making and re-making the hospital: Using collaging and mapping to explore children and young people’s experiences of the hospital environment

Paediatric hospital settings are complex environments catering for children and young people, from birth up until early adulthood. Research that focuses on these settings often involves concentrating on specific design elements and features rather than considering the sensory, embodied, and atmospheric qualities of these environments. This project aims to explore the past, present, and future of the NHS hospital focusing on the sensory environment. Research consisted of two strands of study: (1) archival and oral history research; and (2) creative research, working at sites with patients, staff, and visitors. Using collaging and mapping, this study worked with children and young people accessing outpatient auditory/visual services to explore their hopes and wants for the hospital environment. This research demonstrates the opportunities that different modes of expression afford in exploring the experiences of children and young people, and highlights the importance of this when working with people with sensory impairments. Findings demonstrate the sensitive and considered ways in which children and young people make and re-make places in the hospital to produce private, creative, and imaginative spaces.