Healthcare

Brighter Art Preferred in Healthcare Facilities (07-31-17)

Nielsen and Mullins collected information from hospitalized patients about their preferences for art in healthcare facilities.  The team found that “the presence of coloured visual art in hospitals contributes to health outcomes by improving patients’ wellbeing and satisfaction. . . . . Overall, patients preferred art in brighter colours. . . .  patients experienced more positive memories and emotions if they perceived the colours of the art as brighter. . . .

Healthcare Employees: Visibility and Performance (07-28-17)

Two studies presented at the 2017 meeting of the Environmental Design Research Association link more visual contact between health care workers and enhanced employee performance.  Gharaveis and his team found that “with high visibility in emergency departments, teamwork and collaborative communication will be improved, while the frequency of security issues will be reduced. . . .

Hospital Art Preferences (07-05-17)

Nielsen and her team investigated the sorts of art preferred by hospital patients.  They determined that patients “primarily ranked items to favor figurative art painted in light colors.”

Stine Nielsen, Michael Mullins, Lars Fich, and Kirsten Roessler.  2017.  “The Significance of Certain Elements in Art for Patients’ Experience and Use.”  Visual Anthropology, vol. 30, no. 4, pp. 310-327.

Seeing the Coast and Feeling Pain (06-13-17)

Tanja-Dijkstra and her colleagues linked seeing coastal scenes via virtual reality and experiencing less pain (even during dental treatments such as tooth extractions and fillings).  They report that “Virtual reality (VR) distraction has become increasingly available in health care contexts and is used in acute pain management. However, there has been no systematic exploration of the importance of the content of VR environments. Two studies tested how interacting with nature VR influenced experienced and recollected [remembered] pain after 1 week. . . .

Mirrors and Eating (06-08-17)

A press release from Nagoya University indicates that seeing ourselves while we eat affects how much food we consume.  The reported findings have repercussions for the use of mirrors and mirror-like surfaces in spaces where people will eat and are particularly relevant, for example, in environments for older individuals who often dine alone.  Researchers determined that “people eating alone reported food as tasting better, and ate more of it, when they could see themselves reflected in a mirror, compared with when they ate in front of a monitor displaying an image of a wall.”  Previous rese

Pink Noise and Sleep (05-15-17)

Papalambros and her team have learned that hearing pink noise (described here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pink_noise) while sleeping can enhance sleep quality and memory performance the day after the pink noise is heard among older individuals.  People 60 to 84 years old participated in the Papalambros lead study and the pink noise was coordinated with sleeping brain rhythms.   Zhou, Liu, Li, Ma, Zhang, and Fang (2012) reported, more generally, that “steady pink noise has significant effect on reducing brain wave complexity and induc

More Evidence Interruptions Are Undesirable (03-21-17)

Altmann and David Hambrick confirm that mental interruptions can impede performance.  They report that  “As steps of a procedure are performed more quickly, memory for past performance . . . become less accurate, increasing the rate of skipped or repeated steps after an interruption. We found this effect, with practice generally improving speed and accuracy, but impairing accuracy after interruptions. . . .

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