Respite care in Bohuslav

The war in Ukraine is draining the country’s resources and making public services less reliable. As a result, private initiatives are taking over, and one of these is the Ukrainian organization Djerela. The organization runs a number of respite homes across Ukraine where people with mental disabilities and their families can get a break from the many air raids and shelters that are commonplace in major cities.

In this project, we assist Djerela in designing a new respite home in the provincial town of Bohuslav just south of Kyiv, where the organization has acquired a new but very worn house. Our work has two purposes; to design the specific house optimally for the user group, both inside and out, and to provide general design principles for optimal interior and landscape designs of both future and existing respite homes run by Djerela.

The project is a collaboration with the Danish development organization Amis – A More Inclusive Society, which has supported civil society organizations in Eastern European countries since 1991.

DEVELOPMENT TARGETS

• To create better conditions for the users of the respite home, both indoors and outdoors, thus increasing the impact of the stay
• To use the upgrade of the specific respite home in Bohuslav as a case for developing design principles for how other respite homes in Ukraine can be upgraded
• To increase the visibility of Djerela’s work in Ukraine and thus help their fundraising efforts to benefit mentally disabled Ukrainian citizens and their families.

Update October 2025:
Four people from the project team visited Bohuslav in September, interviewed users and staff, measured the house and its outdoor areas and are now writing the program for the project in close dialogue with the organization Djerela.