Integrating Healing For Cancer Patients

North South University, Department of Architecture, Dhaka

Idea projektu

Introduction:
A cancer hospital consists of two sections. One is the diagnosis and treatment section, while the other is the rehabilitation and research center. The primary focus of a cancer hospital is to offer a range of medical services to combat the disease. On the other hand, the rehabilitation and research center, which is frequently included in the continuum of cancer care, concentrates on assisting patients in their recovery of physical health following the completion of cancer treatment. A cancer hospital places equal emphasis on treating patients' illnesses and providing a healing atmosphere that offers patients and their families a sense of safety, respect, and belonging. But cancer patients not only suffer from physical disease but also struggle with their mental health. As a result, it has a negative impact on the patients, which leads to mental breakdown. This mental trauma holds back the patient from recovering quickly. The therapies help in their physical health, but later on, mental health drains the progression in many cases. Therefore, rehabilitation and recreation spaces are a must-needed space to overcome the mental strain of a patient. A research center will help to conduct further research on the disease manipulations resulting in creating a new way of treatment for the disease.
An NGO named ‘Amader Gram Cancer Care and Research Center’ is working for cancer patients in Rampal, Khulna, which is a remote coastal area of Bangladesh. The site I have chosen to do my project is the site of the NGO Amader Gram, and the funding body of my project will be the Bangladesh Government. A river runs down the southwest side of the site, surrounded by farmland in the north and some portions of the east with some ponds for shrimp production. By overcoming all the site challenges, designing a cancer hospital, rehabilitation center, and research center will help the people of this area and its surroundings, as the current number of cancer patients is alarmingly rising in Rampal. Making the architecture in a way that it will have an “architectural placebo effect" is a philosophy of Charles Jencks (Maggie’s Center).
The hospital will consist of all the medical facilities required in a cancer hospital, with diagnostics, test labs, wards, cabins, and so on. A therapy zone will be the rehabilitation space, which will provide not only physical but also emotional support by creating a home-like environment that is comfortable and inspiring. The recreational space will be nature-based and will include a therapy garden, which allows a person to remove stress and boost positive energy. So, by adding all these sectors, I want to create an architecture that will uplift the spirit of the patients and help them to heal naturally.

Problems:
Being in the coastal area, the people living here face a lot of health problems due to the high salinity of water. Cancer is one of the major diseases this area is facing alarmingly. The main occupation of the people living in this area is shrimp production. They add more salt to the water to keep the shrimp alive and feed them certain fish food that contains chemicals like mercury, which affects the human body in the long run, resulting in diseases like cancer. Most of the patients living here have to move to different cities like Khulna or Dhaka to get the proper cancer treatment, as this area does not have a proper hospital to treat cancer. Hence, a proper healthcare service is required in this area to serve the patients suffering from cancer. Cancer treatment consists of both physical and mental health care.
The hospital environment is usually a gloomy and dull environment that patients have to face in their every consulting day. This environment not only stresses out the patients but also degrades their mental health but also affects their physical health in many ways. Resulting in a negative impact on the patient’s overall health. Proper patient handling is not done there. Most of the time, mental health goes unnoticed, not just by doctors, friends, and families.
Mental health issues appear in patients due to the financial burden they have to go through, knowing about the short life span they have, and usually trigger after the therapy sessions, from which patients start noticing changes in their appearance. The problem arises from different aspects; one of them is the communication barrier, while the other is the financial burden they feel through the treatment process. Patients may not always express their mental health issues to the doctors, and doctors may also fail to inquire about them due to time limitations or a lack of mental health expertise. Lack of counseling and proper knowledge about the treatment process makes them more fearful about the treatment process. There is a need for proper research and public awareness sessions in that area to keep these people updated on this problem and prepare them to be careful in the future.

Popis projektu

The main goal of this project is to design a hospital, rehabilitation center, and research center in such a way that patients coming here will feel hopeful rather than meeting a dead end. Making the hospital efficient in such a way that a patient coming here will not only get physical treatment, they will also get emotional support Rampal is a remote area, and facilities here are not well developed. Making sure the hospital is welcoming to the patients along with their family members who tag along with them in their crucial moments of life. Services and functions of the hospital will be divided according to the betterment of the patient’s journey. Residential quarters for the doctors and staff members will also be added to the design. I also want to create a job opportunity for people here who want to help in the healthcare facilities by providing a training facility space for them to come and learn about the safeties and measures. They can help in the counseling courses which the people of this area need.
The rehabilitation and recreation space of the center will not act as a part of the hospital but rather as a therapy space that patients alone or with their family members can access without an appointment. They can walk around, sit, and talk. Visitors there can participate in individual and group therapy, gather information about health benefits, undergo informal personal counseling, and learn about topics like stress management, nutrition, and other dimensions of therapy. “They are in a way monumental and precious, like a church that isn’t a church, a gallery that is not in a museum, or a house that is not a home” (Medina, 2014). Last but not least, adding a rainwater harvest facility to store rainwater as Rampal is located in a coastal area for which the underground water is impure due to high salinity.
A new dimension of cancer hospital with services that will not only treat patients physically but also help in mental health and well-being with arrangements of public awareness sessions with a research center for cancer. This will help the people get proper treatment and make them aware of the reasoning behind cancer.
The concept of the project is to design spaces dedicated to cancer patients in such a way that the design itself will work as a secondary therapy. There will be a 100-bed hospital consisting of facilities required for cancer treatment, including therapy rooms. An ambulatory recovery area with gardens will help the patient not only recover from the disease but also improve their mental health. In addition to the hospital, there will be quarters for the doctors and the staff. The recreational space will have spaces designed for different activities like knitting and pottery making and a library to keep them active and help them gain a sound peace of mind. Gardening will also be added as an activity for them to interact with nature. These activity spaces will work as a gathering space for them to simply sit, talk, and share their emotions with other patients.

Technické informace

The material of the building is exposed brick, which has low porosity. High-fired clay bricks are less prone to absorbing water and allowing salt to seep in. To stop moisture buildup and water infiltration, there should be sufficient drainage behind and around brick walls. To prevent bricks from cracking, expansion joints can be used for the natural movement and thermal expansion of the bricks. To keep salt and water off the brick surface, a premium, breathable sealer should be applied.