'Therapeutic landscapes' and the importance of nostalgia, solastalgia, salvage and abandonment for psychiatric hospital design

We examine emotional reactions to changes to medical spaces of care, linked with past experiences. In this paper we draw on findings from a qualitative study of the transfer of psychiatric inpatient care from an old to a newly built facility. We show how the meanings attributed to 'therapeutic landscapes' from one׳s past can evoke emotions and memories, manifesting in ideas about nostalgia, solastalgia, salvage and abandonment, which can impinge on one׳s present therapeutic experience. We reflect on how consideration of these ideas might contribute to better future design of psychiatric inpatient facilities and the wellbeing of those using them.