Architecture for the terminally ill: A proposed hospice facility design for Ghana.
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Date
2008-07-15
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Abstract
The concept of Hospice care is rooted in the centuries-old idea of offering a place of shelter and rest, or "hospitality" to weary and sick travellers on a long journey. Today, hospice provides humane and compassionate care for the terminally ill so that their last days on this earth may be comfortable. It concentrates on reducing the severity of disease symptoms, rather than providing a cure. The goal is to prevent and relieve suffering and to improve quality of life for people facing serious and complex illness. Ghana lacks hospice facility apart from the hospital units to cater for the dying from terminal diseases such as HIV/AIDS and various types of cancer such as leukaemia, cancer of the colon, liver and lungs etcetera. The objective of the research is to provide a climate and culturally responsive hospice design for Ghana. The research is able to utilize the concepts of courtyards, landscape and congregational open spaces throughout the whole facility, to create a hospice design that that is suitable for Ghana culturally.
Description
A thesis submitted to the Department of Architecture Kwame Nkrumah University of SCIENCE and Technology in partial fulfilment of the requirements for degree of Master of Architecture
On May, 2008.