Speaker
Description
The deinstitutionalisation movement has been implemented in mental healthcare since the 1950s. In the 1980s, Taiwan also introduced the idea of psychiatric rehabilitation, intending to shift the focus of mental healthcare from symptoms to restoring individuals' ability to live in the community. However, there are many difficulties in the deinstitutionalisation process. For instance, in 2019, owing to safety concerns and the perceived impact on quality of life, the Zhoumei community opposed the establishment of the "psychiatric recovery home" in their community, reflecting that mental healthcare institutions are still seen as "NIMBY (Not in My Backyard) facilities" in Taiwan.
Existing studies on the NIMBY sentiment about psychological fear primarily approach from the perspective of socially constructed risk perception to discuss the issue. However, from the standpoint of spatial planning, socially constructed cognition influences both "how planners plan facilities" and "how individuals experience them," thereby shaping people's perceptions of such facilities. For example, many psychiatric hospitals in Taiwan were historically located in suburban or rural areas, distant from where people live, and often featured spatial designs with clear boundaries.
Due to urbanisation, many psychiatric hospitals in suburban areas have become integrated into cities, whereas some rural facilities remain relatively isolated campuses. The differences in community scale and facility design lead to varying interactions between residents and their surroundings. Therefore, this study compares the NIMBY sentiments and cognition of community members surrounding psychiatric hospitals in urban and rural areas, further exploring how geographical context and lifestyle influence perception and cognition.
This research examines how environmental stimuli shape community members' perceptions of mental healthcare institutions, highlighting the importance of spatial planning. The research objectives include:
1. To understand how community members cognitively perceive psychiatric hospitals.
2. To explore how spatial planning affects residents' perception of psychiatric hospitals.
3. To investigate whether significant differences exist between urban and rural residents' perception and cognition of psychiatric hospitals.
The research employs a questionnaire survey to assess community members' basic cognition of psychiatric hospitals, such as their functions and target populations. Subsequently, the Semantic Differential (SD) Scales are employed to assess how hospital environmental design shapes residents' perceptions and whether these perceptions affect their quality of life, serving as a measure of NIMBY phenomena. In addition to questionnaire data, this study will carry out semi-structured interviews to identify other factors influencing NIMBY sentiments and cognition, achieving a more comprehensive understanding.
The results of this study are expected to show that spatial planning can impact people's perceptions and cognition regarding NIMBY. This result enables future research to investigate the mechanisms underlying these phenomena more profoundly. From the spatial planning perspective, this research examines people's perceptions of psychiatric facilities and the impressions created by existing planning. It seeks to identify gaps between societal perceptions of mental health institutions in the current situation and the direction of policy expectations. Furthermore, it proposes a spatial planning strategy to support the social integration of mental healthcare institutions. This strategy aims to implement deinstitutionalisation while ensuring a secure living environment for residents in the original community.
| Keywords | psychiatry hospital; mental healthcare institutions; NIMBY; perception; cognition |
|---|---|
| Best Congress Paper Award | Yes |
