Designing a supportive emergency department environment for people with self harm and suicidal ideation: A scoping review.

BACKGROUND: People with self harm and suicidal ideation are increasingly presenting emergency departments, resulting in significant economic impacts, increasing pressure on triage processes, and often poor outcomes and experiences. The emerging field of evidence-based design seeks to improve healthcare outcomes through considered design of the built environments delivering healthcare services.
METHODS: This scoping review aimed to (1) identify the current body of literature which examined the design of emergency departments for people with self harm and suicidal ideation, and (2) identify the ways in which the built environment could increase the efficacy of therapeutic efforts through improving service user outcomes and experiences.
RESULTS: Design strategies from the literature are collated and discussed. This review also developed a thematic network of key themes in the literature, to guide future evidence-based design researchers addressing the design of the built environment with the provision of care for people with self harm and suicidal ideation specifically in emergency departments.
CONCLUSIONS: Future research directions, limitations of the field and potential methodologies to address these limitations are presented, including clear definition of participant groups and settings, co-design processes engaging the service user voice alongside other stakeholders, and collaborative interdisciplinary research partnerships.