Visual art in hospitals: case studies and review of the evidence

Abstract

Summary In 2006 a Department of Health Working Group on Arts and Health reported that the arts have ‘a clear contribution to make and offer major opportunities in the delivery of better health, wellbeing and improved experience for patients, service users and staff alike’. In this review we examine the evidence underpinning this statement and evaluate the visual art of three of Scotland's newest hospitals: the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh, the new Stobhill Hospital, and the new Victoria Infirmary in Glasgow. We conclude that art in hospitals is generally viewed positively by both patients and staff, but that the quality of the evidence is not uniformly high. Effects may be mediated by psychological responses to colour hue, brightness and saturation. Colours that elicit high levels of pleasure with low levels of arousal are most likely to induce a state of calm, while those causing displeasure and high levels of arousal may provoke anxiety. The fact that patients frequently express a preference for landscape and nature scenes is consistent with this observation and with evolutionary psychological theories which predict positive emotional responses to flourishing natural environments. Contrary to a view which may prevail among some contemporary artists, patients who are ill or stressed about their health may not always be comforted by abstract art, preferring the positive distraction and state of calm created by the blues and greens of landscape and nature scenes instead.

An ethnographic organisational study of alongside midwifery units: a follow-on study from the Birthplace in England programme

“…Aside from the architecture of the hospital building itself, the introduction of visual art into hospitals (see Lankston et al 46 for an evaluation of its benefits) is one example of the way in which designers have attempted to make hospitals into therapeutic landscapes. These interior designs have particularly focused on integrating 'nature' 47 and 'home' 38 into the institutional space because they are two arenas strongly imbued with the qualities of a 'therapeutic landscape'.…”

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“…A series of analyses and scientific research demonstrated effectively the positive outcomes resulting from the incorporation of artistic performances and activities into healthcare experience and visual art implementation in medical settings. The arts create a safe and supportive environment, improve the physical health and the well-being of patients, their relatives and medical staff [7][8][9]. Artistic interventions may include various dimensions of arts, however this article will focus on the most popular type: the visual art.…”

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“…Aside from the architecture of the hospital building itself, the introduction of visual art into hospitals (Lankston et al 2010) is one example of the way in which designers have attempted to mould hospitals into more therapeutic landscapes. These interior designs have particularly focused on integrating 'nature' (Conradson 2005) and 'home' (Gilmour 2006) into the institutional space because they are two arenas strongly imbued in the public imagination with the qualities of a 'therapeutic landscape' (Gesler 1992).…”