Part Two, Page 2

Artwork as a Postive Distraction

Results from studies on the impact of art in hospitals are similar to those for natural views and gardens. A Swedish hospital conducted an experiment in its Intensive Care Unit. Patients recuperating from heart surgery who were shown landscape artwork with trees and water reported less anxiety, less stress and needed fewer doses of strong pain medication than a control group not viewing artwork. However, another group of patients exposed to abstract art actually got poor results compared with the control group. [3]

Another study with 300 randomly picked patients found that they enjoyed artwork of natural images but that they generally disliked exposure to abstract art. Yet another study was conducted in a psychiatric unit that had a large display of artwork in a wide range of styles. Once again patients reported having positive feelings and associations when viewing nature paintings and prints. The same patients reported strong negative reactions to artwork they found ambiguous or that could be interpreted in multiple ways. [3]

One interesting finding related to artwork is that lines--in artwork or just painted on walls promote restful feelings more than curves do. Horizontal lines have a particularly calming effect. [4]

Light

Light is another visual factor that has measurable effects on the welfare of a hospital's inhabitants. The general rule is the more light the better. This is especially important when dealing with patients suffering from depression, sleep disorders and seasonal affective disorders (SAD). Studies have found that patients in brightly lit rooms leave the hospital sooner than patients in dimly lit rooms. [3] One study of patients with severe depression found that participants with sunny rooms reduced their hospital stay by 3.67 days in comparison to those whose window views were in shadow. [3]

Natural light is considered the most effective type of lighting. This is especially true for patients suffering from SAD. One study found that SAD patients also beneffited more from morning light then they did from evening light. [3] Perhaps patients with winter related depression should be given rooms with east-facing windows.