Making Sense and Feeling Safe: Why accessible information and welcoming spaces go hand-in-hand

Even if you understand the need to make information more accessible by transforming complex information into clear, simple language with pictures in documents and signs, it turns out that there are people out there who need even more help.

This isn’t just about how they access information: it’s also about the places where they need to access it.

This includes:

• people who find reading hard or process information differently

• those feeling stressed, anxious, or in unfamiliar settings

• people who don’t speak English as their first language

• anyone overwhelmed by too much text or complex wording.

This is where Psychologically Informed Environments (PIE) take information accessibility to the next level. While that name sounds like a bit of a mouthful, PIE is a simple and practical approach to making places safe, welcoming, and accessible, especially for those facing communication challenges.

So what exactly is a ‘Psychologically Informed Environment’?

Imagine walking into a service, already worried. If you then face complex forms or confusing signs, that feeling of being lost adds immense pressure.

Turning that space into a Psychologically Informed Environment is about carefully designing a service environment to make it more accessible

The whole idea is to make that space feel calm, safe, and easily understood, reducing stress from communication struggles. Turning it into a PIE helps people relax enough to take in information and engage with it, and the people there much more effectively.

A PIE achieves this by focusing on:

• Safety & Calm: The physical space (look, sound, feel) reduces stress and helps you absorb information

• Kind & Clear Relationships: Staff are patient, build trust, speak clearly, and check understanding

• Predictable Routines: Clear, consistent, ‘signposted’ processes and time-related information reduce anxiety and increase comfort levels

• Understanding Staff: Everyone is trained to recognise and alleviate communication difficulties

• Learning & Improving: The service continuously seeks feedback and adapts its environment and communication

So, why does this matter for accessible information? Even the clearest Easy Read document is hard to use if you're stressed or feel unsafe in the environment. Accessible information helps you understand messages; PIE helps you feel calm and less stressed in the place where you receive those messages. They are just two sides of the same coin for truly empowering support.

Practical Synergy: How accessible information and PIE  Work Together

When accessible information and psychologically informed environments combine, they create truly effective and deeply supportive services. Here are practical examples:

How a Welcoming Space Helps You Use Accessible Information

Imagine needing to understand important information at a new service.

• Calm Settings Foster Focus: In a calm, PIE-designed waiting area (e.g., quiet, comfortable), you can actually focus on an Easy Read leaflet. Reduced environmental stress allows your brain to process clear information effectively.

• Patient, Relational Delivery: Staff, guided by PIE principles, will patiently go through accessible documents (e.g., using an Easy Read support plan), checking understanding by asking, "Can you tell me in your own words...?" This calm, unhurried approach reduces anxiety, making the information truly sink in.

How Clear Information Helps Create a Welcoming Space

Clear, understandable information can directly make a place feel more safe, predictable, and supportive, reinforcing PIE principles by reducing confusion and stress.

• Easy Navigation Reduces Anxiety: Clear, easy-to-read signs with words and pictures (e.g., for "Reception," "Toilets") help you find your way easily in a new building. This reduces stress, increases your sense of control, and makes the environment feel safer

• Clear Expectations Reduce Worry: If important rules or processes (e.g., how to ask for help) are in Easy Read format, everyone understands them easily. This creates a more predictable, fair, and less stressful environment, central to a PIE

• Feeling Heard Through Simple Feedback: Offering Easy Read feedback forms with simple options (e.g., picture scales like "Happy, Okay, Sad?") makes sharing thoughts easy. This shows the service values your input, building trust and a sense of being respected within the PIE

The Big Picture: A Truly Supportive Experience

When a service provides accessible information (including Easy Read materials) and carefully designs its service spaces as Psychologically Informed Environments, it demonstrates a deep, holistic understanding of people's diverse needs.

It means they're thinking about both what they communicate and how that communication is received within a space that actively reduces stress and promotes well-being. This powerful, combined approach is key to helping everyone feel understood, safe, and truly able to benefit from the support they receive.

Make Your Space More Welcoming with Clear Information

At IC Works, we are experts in creating accessible information, including crystal clear Easy Read documents. We can help you ensure your messages are clear, making your environments feel safer and more welcoming for everyone.

Contact us today to find out how we can help your organisation.