Effects of Environmental Design Inspired by nature on Psychological and Physiological Responses of Clients in Medical Spaces

Abstract

<p>Medical environments such as hospital waiting rooms can affect a client's anxiety level as well<br />as psychological and physiological responses to his or her situation. The aim of this research was to evaluate<br />the use of environmental design, specifically the design which incorporates elements of nature, in clinics and<br />hospitals to decrease anxiety, blood pressure and pulse rates of waiting clients. Representations of nature and<br />the natural environment are known to recover a dynamic union between an environment and its user, therefore<br />the effects of environmental design on subjects' responses are measured and analyzed. In order to examine<br />these hypotheses a sample of 145 people were chosen as subjects for the experiment. They were divided into<br />control and experiment groups, both of which included males and females. The designed environment was<br />applied for the experiment group which included elements of nature, green plants, sounds of waterfall and<br />birds. Both control and experiment groups were pre tested and then post tested. The findings showed that<br />being in the designed hospital's waiting room was clearly effective at decreasing a client's level of anxiety (p<<br />0.001), blood pressure (p< 0.001) and pulse rate (0.001). We propose that using an environmental design for<br />medical treatment centers can reduce levels of anxiety in clients and can effectively foster a sense of wellbeing.</p>