Audrey Yong is working on the following research projects related to home environment designing, with an emphasis on a humanistic and empathic perspective.

The word ‘home’, derived from the Old Norse ‘heima’, describes a state of being as well as a physical place… a place of intimacy, comfort and privacy.

In modern life, the home is for many of us, the last bastion of the senses; not just in providing a roof over our heads but our emotional heartland, a place where the rhythm of events is under our control and we involve all our senses to restore the delicate balance between mind and body… and to regain our equilibrium…

Ilse Crawford, The Sensual Home

PROJECT 1: A QUALITATIVE RESEARCH STUDY in 2 parts.

Part 1: “It’s the stuff of small details”: The occupational therapy contribution to good home design for participation and wellbeing of people with intellectual disability.

Part 2: Occupational therapy at the intersection: Balancing complexity, capacity, and collaboration. The contribution to good home design for participation and wellbeing of people with intellectual disability.

This research project involved interviewing UK occupational therapists working in the field about their knowledge, skills and experience in relation to home environment and the designing of homes. The study was conducted collaboratively with Stuart Heaton, a clinical specialist occupational therapist in practice; and Team Springwell, a group of experts with lifelong experience of learning disability and complex health needs. The study explored the occupational therapy contribution to home design for individuals with intellectual disability, and has been structured into two complementary manuscripts. Both papers have been submitted for publication to the British Journal of Occupational Therapy and is in the process of peer review.

  • Part 1 focused on environmental design and occupational therapy expertise.
  • Part 2 explored systemic complexity, strategic collaboration, and workforce capacity

This research is supported by the Royal College of Occupational Therapists Research Foundation.

Further Output

April 2025 – University of Brighton Research & Knowledge Exchange Week: Staff Prize for research poster.

May 2024 – Conference: poster presentation

Yong A (2024). A Collaborative Research Journey with Experts-by-Experience (EbE) on:  The Occupational Therapy Contribution to Good Home Environment Design for People with Intellectual Disabilities. University of Brighton, EDI in Research Conference, 21 May 2024, Brighton.

EDI-AY-poster-2Download

PROJECT 2: CASE STUDY RESEARCH

Title: Enabling Change and Home Participation for an Individual with Intellectual Disability: A Case Study in Complex Occupational Therapy Practice.

This paper has been accepted for publication by the Journal of Occupational Therapy in Health Care

This case study research was conducted in collaboration with Alice Harland, a clinical specialist Occupational therapist working in a Specialist Community Disability Service; and Dr David Haines. The study is an illuminative case study research examining the nuanced role of occupational therapy in supporting an individual with intellectual disability and behaviours of concern during a period of critical transition. Drawing on data from multiple sources, the study explores occupational therapy involvement and its impact. The findings generated two main overarching contributions: 1) occupational therapy implementation and 2) the occupational therapy contribution and mechanisms within that enabled change. To support an occupational perspective, the study drew on Pentland et al.’s (2018) model, which describes occupational therapy as a complex practice involving dynamic shifts in response to individual and contextual needs.

PROJECT 3: A CO-PRODUCED RESEARCH WITH EXPERTS-BY-EXPERIENCE (EbE)

Working title: A qualitative research exploring the experience of people with intellectual disability and what it means to live a good life at home.

This research project is in it’s infant stage of co-producing a proposal. The research team consists of Experts-by-Experience (EbE) and occupational therapists who will be involved at the very beginning of shaping ideas into a study that will explore the lives of people with intellectual disability and how they experience a good and meaningful life in their homes and communities. The findings will be viewed through an occupational lens using the Model of Occupational Wholeness (MOW) (Yazdani, 2023)

REFERENCES:

Pentland D, Kantartzis S and Giatsi Clausen M (2018). Occupational Therapy and Complexity: Defining and Describing Practice. London: Royal College of Occupational Therapists.

Yazdani F (2023). Occupational Wholeness for Health and Wellbeing. A Guide to Re-Thinking and Re-Planning Life. London: Routledge