New Social Welfare Environment Theory

In the research and practice of social welfare so far, it seems that little attention has been paid to the relationship with fields related to the physical environment, including engineering. Recently, however, there has been an increase in the number of researchers in engineering universities who take up equipment related to the welfare of the disabled, facility construction in the field of welfare, housing, cities, and transportation as their research themes. On the other hand, welfare engineering and welfare environment studies have been introduced in welfare-related universities. In addition, morihabilitation engineering has already been introduced in rehabilitation (physical therapy, occupational therapy), and there is medical application engineering (ME) in medicine. In particular, the interest in engineering in the field of social welfare is not unrelated to the rapid aging of society in Japan. However, in the social welfare approach, the importance of environmental improvement is also related to the recognition that it is one of the necessary conditions for establishing human rights such as social independence and the right to self-determination for persons with disabilities. For example, there is an ecological approach as an approach of social workers as human supporters of social welfare.
In this ecological social work, the relationship between the 'human' and the 'physical environment' influences people's adaptation needs and potentials to be realized or hindered. I believe that the concept of "physical environment" is important for social work practice. In particular, it is necessary to consider the space and "spatial arrangement" that cause human spatial behavior and spatial response1).