Have you ever found yourself sitting in a hospital with heightened emotions? Many people have. Maybe your first child has just been delivered. Or a friend may have been in a car accident. While visiting isn’t always a purely positive experience, it is an incredibly important part of the process and atmosphere. It could be said that there are both the opportunity and responsibility to create a lasting impact and a sense of connectedness to the community that they’re in. What can hospital design do to achieve this? Let’s explore...
Connecting with Local Nature
The use of natural light and orienting views of the landscape can have a profound impact on patients. Not surprisingly, these factors contribute to stress reduction and a sense of well-being. While it’s certainly not a flashy new technology or groundbreaking design trend, daylight and views to nature will improve the satisfaction of a hospital visit for both patients and their families and create a stronger sense of connectedness to the community. This translates to reduced stress and can lead to shorter hospital stays. Speaking practically, consider adding gardens, plant life and larger windows with views of trees and green grass.
Healthcare that Feels Like Home
It is often hardest for long-term patients to feel at home when in a healthcare facility. You can quickly see why this is the case when observing traditional healthcare architecture – lifeless colors, fluorescent lights and sterile surfaces fill the space. Hospitals should be inviting, with beautiful artwork and intentional color palettes that create a sense of warmth. In addition, furniture should look and feel closer to something you would find in a home’s decor. These design decisions could have the power to noticeably increase patient comfort levels.
Customizable Patient Rooms
Being in a hospital gives many people anxiety. Healthcare architecture and design are helping combat that by allowing for more personalization in patients’ rooms. Features like custom digital signage with the name of the patient, family photos and more are being incorporated into healthcare facilities. These simple customizations can do a lot to improve a patient’s experience and satisfaction – making life easier on medical staff as well!
Designing for People
Hospitals are highly complex facilities, full of challenges around technology integration and planning functionalities, and it’s essential to get them right. The problem is that it’s easy to get lost in the technical details and forget that a hospital is primarily there for people. To design an exceptional hospital, we believe there must be a strong connection with the community it exists within.
