Fontys College started a research project together with Maastricht University, care partners Vitalis, Archipel, Brabant Zorg, and Savant and EGM aimed at looking into the definition of 'feeling at home'. What is this feeling and how can it be achieved? An abstract yet essential question, the answer to which could improve the lives of all nursing home residents.
It is relevant to define the emotion of 'feeling at home', now more so than ever, due to social developments. The time when someone needs to be looked after in a nursing home is a time when that person is very vulnerable. Is that not when the need for feeling at home is most urgent? What's more, there are new opportunities available to nursing home residents, thanks to modern technological developments, such as more freedom of movement and recreation.
EGM has been involved in various forms of assisted living. Our experience in designing and building is expanded with a science-based frame of reference, where the relationship between design and its effect on the resident is defined. A living lab is also developed, for sharing knowledge and allowing practical study of the sense of feeling at home. EGM only has one goal for this combination of design experience and knowledge-sharing: a future where each person feels at home in a nursing home.