The Architectural Healthcare Environment and Its Effects on Patient Health Outcomes A Report on an NHS Estates Funded Research Project
Patients can spend many hours in bed or sitting, with little to do. The influence of the immediate environment on their sense of well-being and actual recovery is the subject of this report, based on a case study of two hospitals (one general medicine, the other mental health). The study indicates that the architectural environment can contribute to the treatment of patients and significantly affect their health outcomes. Amongst the fndings are: patients are sensitive and articulate about their architectural environment; patients make better progress in purpose-designed modern buildings than in older ones; better places create an overall improved atmosphere, leading to mental patients being less abusive, and general patients requiring less analgesic medication; most of the features responsible for benefits are generic place-making ones rather than hospital-specific; costs do not appear significantly higher in the new accommodation. The authors suggest that their findings are conservative, given that the wards studied were themselves not ideal in terms of architectural features.