Art in Healthcare

You assess need and find that, indeed, there is one. You review and analyze financials, and consult with colleagues, subject matter experts, and close advisors. You take time to examine options, to compare and contrast pros and cons. And after such thoughtful consideration, after you’ve determined that all evidence points to a choice that is proven to be reliable—one that has a strong and measurable impact—you act.

You purchase the Burberry suit. It just hangs better. The material by itself is a wondrous experience. The mirror is your best friend. You feel really good in it. Of course, now you require accessories: shoes, a belt, a shirt or blouse, a tie or scarf, perhaps a pair of socks or some hosiery. You breeze into Wal-Mart, purchase them on clearance, in and out in 15 minutes.

What is wrong with this picture? And, what does it have to do with art in healthcare? As beautifully designed healthcare facilities are built new or expanded, art is generally lumped in with furniture, fixtures, and equipment. This is the end of the building cycle. Because of this, art is frequently given little forethought and is consequently reduced to a package of ubiquitous budget prints that conform to guiding principles that are, in practice, more form than substance.

Art is arguably the first thing people react to when they approach or enter a facility.  When the process for selecting and integrating art with healthcare design fully considers context, art adds value well beyond a visually aesthetic appeal.

Leaving the consideration of art until after design is complete and construction is nearing final touches is much like buying a fine suit and adorning it with cheap accessories. The potential impact of the accessories is lost, and the quality of the fine suit is diminished.

Today, healthcare design is increasingly guided by evidence-based design. The goal is to inform a comprehensive design approach to create a healing environment. Patterns of movement, exposure to natural light, inside-out views of natural settings, accommodations for patients and their families, colors, textures, technology, electronic media, art, and more, all play a role.

In this environment, elements of design each earn their way and contribute to a sense of place that fosters confidence, comfort, and healing, and, as such, become important allies to healthcare providers.

There is also a clear trend toward hospitality-influenced design in healthcare. The sterile, institutional atmosphere of previous generations of medical facilities is now understood to be counterproductive in many ways. Twenty-first century consumers of medical services know and expect more. Evidence-based design addresses the full human experience, the psychological, intellectual and physical response to a space and to the activities that occur in the space.

The benefit of art in healthcare is in the experience of the art. While it may be dismissed by some as merely decoration, decades of research in Europe and the United States concludes otherwise. The role art plays in an overall strategy to produce healing environments has been measured against health and economic outcomes. They include:

• Clinical outcomes, such as length of hospital stay, intake of pain medication, or biological markers like blood pressure and heart rate;
• Patient-, family-, and employee-based outcomes, such as patients’ rate levels of perceived pain, satisfaction with healthcare services or working conditions, etc.; and
• Economic outcomes related to cost of patient care, cost of employee turnover, etc.

Art is a positive distraction, directly or indirectly, in a variety of situations. It has been shown in a growing body of research to measurably reduce: