An art-based mixed-methods study exploring children’s environmental preferences in home-based nursing research

BACKGROUND: Evidence-based strategies for designing environments conducive to paediatric clinical research home visits are limited, particularly in low-resource settings. Child-centred methods are needed to support children's environmental preferences for positive research experiences. AIM: To pilot a participatory design mixed-methods study combining art-based play, art-critic artificial intelligence (AI) modelling and narrative elicitation to explore children's environmental preferences in a rural, under-engaged community, and to assess its feasibility and value for informing home visit design. DISCUSSION: Children aged 5-8 years ( n =86) participated using Design Your World, a storybook and art activity to encourage self-agency in research and care design in home environments. Iterative thematic analysis integrated visual and verbal data with cross-modal triangulation (AI and child health experts). The method revealed insights into spatial arrangements, colour preferences, imagery and sensory priorities that would be difficult to capture through conventional questioning alone. CONCLUSION: Art-based play integrated with narrative elicitation provides a replicable, child-centred approach to capturing children's environmental preferences in research-related home visits. IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICE: This participatory approach models an art and AI-enabled triangulation method for child-led home environment design.