Program and process: designing the physical space of a day hospital

Programmatic changes in the delivery of mental health services demand a reevaluation of the space devoted to those services. A growing body of mental health literature has been reported concerning the need to involve multidisciplinary teams in the design of mental health facilities. The development of Day Hospitalization Units offers a team the professional challenge of dealing with the physical environment. The following case study describes a given physical space and the process of change therein; based on this study and other relevant examples, we will discuss the relationship between physical space and the process of change.