LARC 493F/693A

Designing Healthy Places

Professor Wasserman

Design Project Proposal

Summary of Topic (a few sentences): I am interested in looking into how wellness has a straight correlation to design. The topic I have chosen will center around how children’s hospital design can affect wellness or happiness levels in an environment that wouldn’t typically be considered “joyful.” I plan to look into the implications of creating spaces that did not positively effect patients, visitors, medical workers, etc. versus environments that placed those individuals in a content area of work or stay.

How Does this Topic Relate to DESIGN of HEALTHY PLACES? This relates to designing healthy places because it centers around the idea that if we create projects that are connected to individual needs, then their health and wellness will increase.

Hypothesis: I hypothesize that designing a visually appealing, calming and pleasant space in hospitals or other medical facilities will increase the overall well-being of folks within that community.

Research Methodology:

For my final project, I plan to create a handbook to illustrate the young children’s needs and desires in hospitals. For example, WVU Children’s Medicine recently opened a hospital wing that has created accommodating spaces pertaining to a youthful demographic to feel comforted while receiving care. I plan to research using scholarly sources, peer-reviewed articles and design sites in regard to complete my research and to discover the psychology behind colors, patterns and visuals that improves patient satisfaction. Also, I believe it’s important to gain children’s understanding of aesthetic and ask them what they prefer. Additions such as altering the room color through a handheld remote could satisfy a cultural preference and allow for a potentially better patient experience. This way, a child has the color of their choice at their fingertips. Colors such as yellow or orange are often viewed as the colors of creativity and happiness; however, these shades might invoke a different meaning depending on what child is staying in that particular hospital room. Factors such as culture, religion, socio-economic status, etc., could all play a part in how a child reacts. With this in mind, I shall ask some local children (as COVID-19 guidelines persist) what color palette they would have favored during their experiences in hospitals. Some of these children have visited hospitals due to something as simple as a broken arm during soccer practice, or even a more severe medical issue. Although, it would be unsafe to ask currently treated patients (high risk) due to COVID-19 and other reasons, children who actively attend local Morgantown school’s may be asked to receive their understanding. I shall then collect that data and compare it to the research I have obtained through scholarly articles regarding color and pattern. Meanwhile, I shall look into what colors are accommodating to cultures and how to achieve satisfaction for everyone. In addition, I shall center my project around the idea that bright bold colors, paintings, pictures and creative spaces for children is imperative. Through my research findings and using the “The Children’s hospital” as a framework, I plan to figure out new ways in which young children can feel more content when crying or scared in a particular setting. For instance, a colorful mural in a children’s exam room could be a distraction for a child to look at while a doctor is trying to examine them for an injury or even giving the child a shot. Instead of the child focusing on the doctor’s examination, he or she has combating, instead one can look at a fun mural of an underwater school of fish.

With this being said, it’s also significant to look to larger issues such as hospital hallways, waiting rooms and greenspaces. This adds another factor of accommodation in regard to parents and guardians. It’s vital to not overlook their presence but instead to consider their experience as well.

One page Outline of Proposed Project:

This project is centered around spaces such as, the WVU Children’s hospital which focuses on improving the lives of young children from birth to the age of adulthood. I am interested in focusing on how mental health and design have a deep correlation with one another. The issue is due to children’s hospital rooms and other spaces, which are often regarded as dark, dingy, gloomy and unappealing rooms for individuals who are going through difficult times. This affects not only young children and their families, but also the medical professionals who work within these facilities. The focus is to create spaces that eliminate such issues and better the health and well-being of the people who spend time there. I look forward to studying how the way we design a space or add a color or pattern in a hospital room can truly impact how an individual’s mind is affected in that specific room. Whether it be adding an appealing painting to the side of the wall, colorful paint applied to the bathroom or multiple windows and mirrors included in a place that might not be particularly a positive one, such little changes can impact how one feels in a space. I myself have a background in fashion and design in my undergraduate studies. In class we often focused on creating designs that were aesthetically pleasing to the eye and that made the one wearing the item feel like the best version of themselves, it was mostly centered around consumer satisfaction. I learned that something as simple as a bright yellow color or a simple picture of a bird can change one’s outlook if he or she was having a bad day or feeling down about a situation. I believe the same can transcend into the world of designing healthy places, where what we see and what we envision can help us in a manner that is small but satisfying to our everyday lives. For example, hospitals are not the happiest and most pleasant places for most people, yet simple details can make that experience in the hospital bed or waiting room a little less unlikable. Designing the room in manner in which is bright and airy with multiple plants and light coloring can alter the way one views their hospital room in the smallest way with large impact. I also have a large interest in studying how the brain works and the psychology behind making children feel happy, safe and comfortable. Some may find it shocking that fashion/ interior, healthy place designing, and psychology could each have a connection to one another. However, with that being said, I find it thought-provoking that subjects that are so vastly diverse could cross over into one another’s wheelhouses. I am enthusiastic to begin the research process and to discover new information I never thought possible in terms of psychology and designing healthy places.

Bibliography:

The average person probably doesn’t believe that how design is orchestrated can affect the mental health of those who will eventually fill up that space, but unfortunately, they are very wrong. Sometimes the simplest necessities that individuals are accustomed to are needed in places such as therapy offices, hospitals, doctor’s offices and many more. It’s not uncommon to have a plant or window in one’s own home so that he or she can use it for decoration or to look outside when the snow falls; however, for someone who is sick in a hospital bed these things are desired more than one would know. Designer Ian Stock explains why these additions are so important,” Design attributes have an impact on patient behavior, healing and overall well-being,” says Ian Stock. At a sensory level, large low windows enhance the senses and reduce delirium. Unobstructed vistas provide a connection with nature and greater natural daylight exposure. A sense of control of one's environment is a critical factor contributing to the patient healing. Operable blinds give the patient privacy and lighting control.” He goes on to describe the impact something as simple as brightness and lights can help one’s satisfaction levels. “Lighting control is indeed a key issue. Everyone needs the ability to close the blinds on their windows. Unfortunately, patients can’t have access to curtains, or the strings associated with blinds because of safety. The best practice solution is to put a miniblind in the window frame between the outer panes of glass and an inner security sash, so that they patient can’t access the blind. An anti-ligature operator can be used to open and close the blinds so the patient has control of his or her environment” ( 2016, Turner). The article continues with diving into the reasons behind making life for patients more accessible and a joyful one at that. It explains the in’s and out’s how patients are affected by a simple design, large window or curtain. In my research report, I look forward to linking my additional scholarly sources to back up my claims of mental health and design in such environments. I hope to grasp my audience’s attention through factual evidence and compelling statistics that will intrigue the reader to this subject matter.

(Possible References)

Adams, R. J. (1987). An evaluation of color preference in early infancy. Infant Behavior and Development, 10(2), 143–150.

Babin, Babin, Sarah E., "Color Theory: The Effects of Color in Medical Environments" (2013). 115. https://aquila.usm.edu

Bornstein, M. H. (1975). Qualities of color vision in infancy. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 19(3), 401–419.

Boyatzis, C. J. , & Varghese, R. (1994). Children's emotional associations with colors. Journal of Genetic Psychology, 155(1), 77–85.

Brown, R. D., & Corry, R. C. (2020). Evidence-based landscape architecture for human health and well-being. Sustainability, 12(4).

Child, I. L., Hansen, J. A., & Hornbeck, F. W. (1968). Age and sex differences in children's color preferences. Child Development, 39(1), 237–247.

Choungourian, A. (1968). Color preferences and cultural variation. Perceptual and Motor Skills, 26(3), 1203–1206.

Choungourian, A. (1969). Color preferences: A cross-cultural and cross-sectional study. Perceptual and Motor Skills, 28(3), 801–802

Sarah E., "Color Theory: The Effects of Color in Medical Environments" (2013). 115.

For Graduate Students Only:

Scholarly Journal your Research Paper could be submitted to):

This article (Boyatzis, C. J. , & Varghese, R. (1994). Children's emotional associations with colors. Journal of Genetic Psychology, 155(1), 77–85. ) is similar to my project because it centers around healthy living and design due to correlation that those two factors determine the well-being of children within that community. My project aligns with this article because it describes how design intention can be crucial in terms of altering one’s life in a positive or negative manner.