Healing Spaces: Elements of Environmental Design That Make an Impact on Health

Abstract

The "ambiance" of a space has an effect on people using the space. In recent years, design for health care environments has begun to include esthetic enhancements in an attempt to reduce stress and anxiety, increase patient satisfaction, and promote health and healing. In this paper, the authors survey the existing research on those elements of the built and natural environment most often asserted by proponents as being inherently healing or promoting health. We postulate a hierarchy of effect of environmental elements ranging from simply nontoxic to safe (both physically and psychologically) to "providing a positive context" to being actively salutogenic. Most relevant research has been concentrated on a limited number of settings and is inadequate to inform the creation of design guidelines for the physical elements of an optimal healing environment. Opportunities exist to make meaningful contributions in this area that are likely to make a significant impact on health outcomes of human beings.

Considering Art in a Hospital Environment from Children's and Young People's Perspectives

“…Studies focused on the experience of children and young people are the least well represented. The evidence that exists supports the inclusion of art in healthcare environments because it assists in health promotion and patient well-being (Caspari, Erikson & Naden, 2006;Lawson & Phiri, 2000;Lawson, Phiri & Wells-Thorpe, 2003;Scher, 1996;Schweitzer, Gilpin & Frampton, 2004;Ulrich, 1991Ulrich, , 1992Ulrich, , 2001; it positively affects medical outcomes (Duncan, 2003;Staricoff & Loppert, 2003; Ulrich, Bishop, K. / Asian Journal of Environmen-Behaviour Studies, ajE-Bs, 2(5) Oct / Dec 2017 (p.15-25) 17 Lunden & Eltinge, 1993) and it reduces the stress of patients and staff and increases the satisfaction of both with the hospital environment (Homicki & Joyce, 2004;Staricoff, Duncan, Wright, Loppert & Scott, 2001).…”

“…Studies focused on the experience of children and young people are the least well represented. The evidence that exists supports the inclusion of art in healthcare environments because it assists in health promotion and patient well-being (Caspari, Erikson & Naden, 2006;Lawson & Phiri, 2000;Lawson, Phiri & Wells-Thorpe, 2003;Scher, 1996;Schweitzer, Gilpin & Frampton, 2004;Ulrich, 1991Ulrich, , 1992Ulrich, , 2001; it positively affects medical outcomes (Duncan, 2003;Staricoff & Loppert, 2003; Ulrich, Bishop, K. / Asian Journal of Environmen-Behaviour Studies, ajE-Bs, 2(5) Oct / Dec 2017 (p.15-25) 17 Lunden & Eltinge, 1993) and it reduces the stress of patients and staff and increases the satisfaction of both with the hospital environment (Homicki & Joyce, 2004;Staricoff, Duncan, Wright, Loppert & Scott, 2001).The research on art with children and young people in health care settings is very limited. In environments for adolescents, it has been found to be important that the artwork is age-appropriate and does not include blatant emblems of childhood such as cartoon characters, clowns, balloons and teddy bears (Blumberg & Devlin, 2006;Liabo, Curtis, Jenkins, Roberts et al, 2002;Tivorsak, Britto, Klosterman, Nebrig & Slap, 2004).…”

Complexity in Built Environment, Health, and Destination Walking: A Neighborhood-Scale Analysis

“…Health is related to how the built environment is perceived as walkable. 6,45 There are other pathways through which health and the built environment could be correlated, 13,41 such as availability of healthful foods, 44 air quality, 22,23 quality of housing stock, 36,47 and so on. However, these pathways, not being relevant to destination walking, are set aside for this present research.…”

Acuity-adaptable patient room from the patient’s perspective

“…Patient and family satisfaction has been noted to increase when care is provided in an acuity-adaptable room [8] and provides the opportunity for confidential discussions between the caregiver, the patient, and the family or other visitors. [7,[9][10][11] The healing atmosphere that the acuity-adaptable room provides lead to shorter length of stay according to McGrath [12] and Mader. [13] Quantitative and descriptive studies conducted by the American Institute of Architects and Facilities Guidelines Institute [14] on the acuity-adaptable room concept indicate strong evidence on improvement of patient clinical outcomes.…”