Vitamin V: Evaluating the benefits of view quality in hospital patient rooms using a large-scale human factors study

Research has shown that spending too much time indoors and disengagement from outdoor environmental stimuli may have detrimental health effects. These negative effects are even more serious in hospitals, where patients are highly stressed and have to spend most of their time indoors. Studies show that, in these situations, patients prefer to have a window with a desirable view. Although the desire for having a room with a view among hospital patients is well established, not all views are equally desirable. The parameters which make a view “desirable” are not well understood. This paper presents results of a large-scale human factors research study using patients’ qualitative assessments on thousands of “view” photos (n = 2000), in order to provide a reliable foundation for developing a robust rating system to accurately quantify the desirability quality of views in healthcare settings. The results show that “distant” and “nature-dominant” views were, by far, the most desirable. Additionally, the results showed that while “water features” was also viewed desirable, views of moving cars and industrial settings were viewed most negatively. Moreover, the study revealed that natural views are not “always” more pleasant than urban views, and the positive reaction is mostly the result of aesthetic quality of the view content.

Practical application: This study provides empirical confirmation that validates previous studies regarding the association of view content and building occupants’ preference, specifically within healthcare settings. It also provides a reliable foundation for developing a robust rating system to accurately classify and quantify the quality of views in healthcare settings. Furthermore, the findings of this study can be used by designers to better incorporate the needs of healthcare design community and those who aim to consider view in the design stages of new built spaces or retrofit of existing spaces.