Creating Spaces for Recovery: New Project to Enrich Neurorehabilitation Care

The Hopkins Centre congratulates Dr Michael Norwood and Dr Kelly Clanchy on securing a Gold Coast Health Collaborative Research Grant for their project, Environmental Enrichment on the Neurorehabilitation Ward: A Collaborative Translation Project.   

Delivered in partnership with clinicians from Gold Coast University Hospital (GCUH), the project aims to explore how simple, cost-effective changes to rehabilitation environments can enhance patient wellbeing and support recovery.

Building on the work of the Brain and Enriched Environment Lab (BEEhive), the team will co-design and evaluate environmental enrichment interventions within the GCUH Neurorehabilitation Ward. These include nature-based murals and digital photo frames designed to strengthen patients' connection to people, places and experiences that matter most to them.

Hospital stays following brain injury and other neurological conditions can be lengthy and emotionally challenging. Research suggests that rehabilitation environments play an important role in supporting wellbeing, engagement and recovery outcomes. This project will investigate whether enriched environments can help reduce psychological distress, improve patients' experiences of their rooms, and promote positive psychosocial outcomes during rehabilitation.

The collaborative translation project brings together researchers, clinicians and consumers to develop practical solutions that can be sustained and scaled across rehabilitation settings. Alongside evaluating the impact of the interventions, the team will develop implementation resources to support broader adoption across health services.

This funding success reflects The Hopkins Centre's ongoing commitment to translating research into real-world improvements in rehabilitation care.

We look forward to following the project's progress and sharing future outcomes from this innovative work.