Physical rehabilitation and its influence on built form through game mechanics : a proposed children's physical rehabilitation centre for the city of Durban.

Abstract

With the evolution of social behaviours in a modern peri- urban environment, a pattern has emerged that has begun to dislocate physically disabled children of Durban from society. Physical rehabilitation clinics and therapy centres are rare in the Kwa-Zulu Natal province. The existing available rehabilitation centres are attached to healthcare or educational buildings. There are no purpose built physical rehabilitation centres for children in Durban. While many studies have illustrated the detrimental impact of this lack of service, few have linked one’s perception of the built environment with the potential for improving the treatment of physical rehabilitation. This study has demonstrated a lack of government involvement in healthcare for the disabled. Physically the built environment directly affects a user’s progress in their rehabilitation treatment affording opportunities for stimulating patients physically, mentally and unconsciously through an enriched and meaningful environment. The primary purpose of this research is to explore the ways in which one perceives the built environment and how this impacts one’s own perception of self and subsequently how this may be utilized to improve the effectiveness of the physical rehabilitation in children. It is important to understand the nature of physical disability and the effect it has on children, to ensure a realistic and functional approach. Interviews with children undergoing physical rehabilitation at an institution were crucial to providing both disabled and persons who treat the disabled with valuable data that was accurate in order to represent the issues present today. The interview data was cross-referenced with data gathered during case study research in order to ground the data in the built environment. The findings describe ways in which the built environment may be utilized to encourage a positive self-image and directly affect the process of rehabilitation, through physiological and psychological means.