Healthcare design in the past favored stark white and institutional structures that promoted a sense of cleanliness. But research shows that poor design strategies can actually have a negative effect on patients — inhibiting recovery, increasing anxiety and even increasing the amount of medication prescribed.
Biophilia is essentially the innate attraction people feel toward nature. It pushes us to seek a balance between the built and the natural in our surroundings. Incorporating the concept of Biophilia into healthcare and the design of healthcare facilities can also help lead to happier and healthier patients and providers, according to Healthcare Design Magazine’s recent white paper on Biophilic design.
“A 2011 study conducted at the University of Oregon revealed that 10 percent of employee absences could be attributed to architectural elements that did not connect with nature, and that a person’s view was the primary predictor of absenteeism (Elzeyadi). When asked to rate scenes according to their preference, the building’s occupants heavily favored the vegetated views over the urban views, and either view over none at all. Furthermore, employees with natural landscape views took an average of 57 hours of sick leave per year compared to the 68 hours taken by employees with no view at all.”
>> Read the full white paper here.
