Lighting the Patient Room of the Future: Evaluating Different Lighting Conditions From the Patient Perspective

Abstract

Objective: This study explores whether “future” lighting systems that provide greater control and opportunity for circadian synchronization are acceptable to participants in the role of patients. Background: Tunable, dimmable light emitting diode systems provide multiple potential benefits for healthcare. They can provide significant energy savings, support circadian synchronization by varying the spectrum and intensity of light over the course of the day, address nighttime navigation needs, and provide user-friendly control. There is an emerging understanding of the important visual and nonvisual effects of light; however, important questions remain about the experience and acceptability of this “future” lighting if we are to adopt it broadly. Methods: Volunteer participants (34) performed a series of tasks typical of patients, such as reading or watching a video, in a full-scale simulated inpatient room. Each participant conducted these tasks under 12 lighting conditions in a counterbalanced order that included varying illuminance levels, correlated color temperatures (CCTs), and in a few conditions, saturated colors. The participants rated each lighting condition on comfort, intensity, appropriateness, and naturalness. Results and Conclusions: The participants found that conditions with CCTs of 5,000 K and higher were significantly less comfortable and less natural than conditions with lower CCTs. Conditions with lighting distributed in multiple zones in the patient room were viewed more favorably than a traditional overbed configuration. The participants in this simulated patient study reacted negatively to colored lighting on the footwall of the room but found a mixture of warmer and cooler luminaire CCTs acceptable.

An Edge Computing and Ambient Data Capture System for Clinical and Home Environments

“…Further, there is a growing evidence [ 54 , 55 , 56 , 57 , 58 , 59 ] about the effects of ambient environment on patient health. While few systems [ 28 , 60 ] provided methodology for capturing ambient environmental measures, we did not find works that captured concurrent patient motion, auditory noise and environmental signals.…”

“…Further, a relative humidity (RH) greater than 45–50% assists fungal growth in built environments and can affect patient recovery in hospitals [ 27 ]. With respect to the lighting conditions, patients prefer a mixture of warmer and cooler luminaire throughout the day and favor distributed lighting over the traditional over-bed configuration [ 28 ]. Thus, temperature, humidity, and light intensity monitoring are essential components in our ambient data capture system.…”

A Review of Physical and Digital Mock-Up Applications in Healthcare Building Development

“…As indicated in Table 2, a PMU can discuss the conceptual design ideas in the early design process [5,8,32,38]; evaluating or testing various design aspects and details during the schematic design and design development phases. It can also be applied before the construction phase (i.e., construction documents) or after occupancy [5,6,8,12,13,32,33]. Particularly it can help decide or review space requirements, optimum clearances for operations, room configurations, room size, room volume, and the functional arrangement of furnishings [4][5][6]8,17,[32][33][34].…”

“…Mock-ups can be used to support concept development and design decision-making by examining or testing the simulated or planned settings and proposed activities. They can also evaluate or test individual preferences, behavior patterns, and health and safety issues exposed to alternative environmental arrangements [3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13]. In terms of demonstration, mock-ups are frequently applied to preview and visualize products or complex settings prior to the design and production; and train students and professionals [14][15][16].…”

“…It allows stakeholders to experience the modelled rooms or spaces via computer screens or VR goggles. Some international case studies indicate that mock-up simulations have become essential for evidence-based design (EBD) solutions in healthcare development [1,[4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14]18,20]. However, the initial literature search suggests that there is little information on the applica-tions of mock-ups in the design of healthcare systems and facilities in China.…”