Nature Heals in Healthcare

During times of illness when one’s health is compromised, many people experience feelings of increased uncertainty regarding the severity of their condition. The doctor’s visit is often accompanied by a long wait in a room with dull, white walls, irritating lights, and relatively sterile corridors or hallways. Although these conditions can regulate sanitation levels and keep stimulation to a minimum, they fail to comfort patients in times of stress, anxiety, and ill health. Lead researcher Roger Ulrich, a Faculty Fellow of the Center for Health Systems and Design, along with other investigators have shown the importance of the health care environment with respect to reducing individual healing times.

Research by Ulrich et al. suggests that the presence of “positive distractions”, which include soothing sounds, sights, and other environmental features, have proven to effectively reduce stress in patients. These distractions include music, animals, laughter or comedy, art, and especially nature.

The physiological changes that result from viewing real or simulated scenes of nature include reduction in blood pressure, less anxiety/stress, reduced needs for strong doses of pain drugs, better emotional well-being, reduced pain intensity, as well as diverting patients from focusing on their pain or distress (visit Center for Health Design for extensive research: www.healthdesign.org).

In the Teleosis Green Health Care Program, practitioners weave natural elements into their workplaces as a means of integrating nature into their practice. Various research studies indicate that exposure to either the natural environment (indoor plants, access or windows to the outdoors, etc.) or simulated natural settings (painting, photograph, audio/video, etc.) can elicit significant recovery from stress within minutes. In addition, investigators report that simply viewing nature manifests a constellation of positive emotional and physiological changes.

By integrating nature into places where healthcare is delivered, health professionals provide their clients with a healing environment that can enhance good health and significantly reduce the time it takes to heal. In the Green Your Workplace component of the Teleosis Green Health Care Program, professionals complete an assessment of their workplace which informs actions that conserve water and energy, reduce solid waste and pollution—and monitor ongoing environmental performance. Through this process, nature is integrated into the workplace, creating a healthier environment for practitioners, clients, and the natural world.