The Positive Impact of Design in End-Of-Life Environments

4 May 2024

Episode S4E05:

There can be no greater honour for a designer than to design the final places in which people someone will spend the final hours of their lives; the space in which family and friends will recall their final moments with their loved one. Lori speaks with Professor Emeritus Paul Eshelman, of Cornell University in the United States, about important criteria for design in these environments, as well as laying down challenges for the next generation of design professionals.

Guest: Paul Eshelman
Designing End of Life Care Settings to Enhance Quality of Life – Cornell University Report
Designing the Physical Environment for Inpatient Palliative Care – British Medical Journal
Design-related Impacts on End-of-Life Experience – National Library of Medicine
Designing for end of life care – eHospice
Dame Cicely Saunders: A Palliative Care Pioneer – King’s College London
Innovation Spotlight: New Styles in Clothing Protectors – Bibetta

About Paul Eshelman

Professor Paul Eshelman was educated in the field of Industrial Design at Kent State University, B.S.,1970, and the University of Illinois, Champaign-Urbana, M.F.A., 1972. After a period of professional design experience as Senior Designer for Amtrak and Designer and Research Associate for Herman Miller Research Corporation, he joined the faculty in the Department of Design and Environmental Analysis at Cornell University in 1978.

At Cornell, his teaching of interior design and furniture design, and his research collectively, focus on his interest in design for special populations including people living with Alzheimer’s disease. He has been recognized for his service to the field of Interior Design by being named a Fellow of the Interior Design Educators Council, an international organization.

From 1990 to 1994 he served as the Editor of the Journal of Interior Design, the only refereed (peer-review) journal specific to the field of Interior Design. He continues to serve as a reviewer for JID.