Design for Healing
Excited to be jumping into the world of Biotechnology with our newest Prosthetics client. Like all medical industries, there is an art to creating spaces that encourage healing. Spaces that boast healthy interiors (from eco-friendly building supplies to nontoxic interior design) and biomimicry design have proven to support patients in their healing process.
It’s not new news, Biophilic Design has proven time and time again that it supports in cognitive function and stress reduction - both vital for healing.
The typical approach to architectural design tends to silo building and landscape architecture, treating the two as separate entities. Over time, this dissociation in design has negatively impacted both humans and the natural environment.*
What is biophilic design?
Biophilic design is defined as an innovative approach that emphasizes the necessity of maintaining, enhancing and restoring the beneficial experience of nature in the built environment.*
How does it impact patients?
Patients receiving health care treatment have found substantial healing benefits when exposed to biophilic-inspired environments, such as stress reduction that leads to pain mitigation.
Research supports that when patient rooms have views of nature, postoperative stays are generally shorter, less pain medication is dispensed and overall condition improves. One study by researchers Katcher, Segal and Beck found that patients waiting to undergo dental surgery exhibited lower anxiety levels when an aquarium of fish was present in the waiting area as opposed to when the aquarium was absent. Another experiment conducted with blood donors found that those who viewed a wall-mounted television showing a tape of nature had lower blood pressure and pulse rates than those donors who watched a tape of an urban setting or even a talk or game show. These examples illustrate that even when a direct connection to nature is not available, imagery of nature has positive benefits on patient health and well-being.
The gate control theory of pain states that neural mechanisms in the spinal cord act as a gateway in the broadcast of pain impulses from the spinal cord to the brain. When this gate is opened, pain is experienced due to impulses flowing to the brain; when closed, these impulses are prevented from flowing and pain is lessened or not felt. A key element of this theory is that the gate can be closed via communications from the brain that are often swayed by psychological or emotional factors.*
*Reference - Medical Construction + Design
Leading Health Care Offices in DFW with Biophilic Design:
Plano Orthopedics
Martin Bionics
Current Client: Gallery Coming Soon
