Evidence of hospital gardens’ therapeutic value grows

Reduced levels of stress and sadness noted in Intensive Care Unit (ICU) patients’ family members who spent time in a hospital green space

Portland, OR / Annapolis, MD, Aug 26, 2019 -- The psychological distress that family members experience when a loved one is receiving treatment in a hospital intensive care unit can be so acute that in 30 percent of cases, symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder later emerge. But new research out of Legacy Emanuel Medical Center and Legacy Research Institute is revealing a promising new means to help families cope: nature.

“When you walk into an ICU patient room, you are often met with the beeping of machines, tubes of various kinds - IV lines,” said Jacquie Chambers, RN and Director of Patient Care Services, Legacy Emanuel. “The environment alone can be unsettling. Add to the center of this scene your loved one, during a serious health crisis from which many don’t recover, and it becomes clear why the stress of the family members is something we should be focused on.”

With this in mind, Legacy Research Institute convened a team of researchers, including Roger Ulrich, one of the world’s most cited and influential evidence-based healthcare design researchers, and embarked on a study intended to investigate how stress levels of ICU family members might be influenced by time spent in a hospital garden. The research team was also looking to compare the effects of time spent in the garden to those of time spent in an indoor hospital atrium, a space also intended to provide respite and relaxation and includes plants, natural light and a fountain.

While both settings were effective at reducing stress in the family members observed in the study, the outdoor space proved more effective at reducing self-reported feelings of sadness.

Germane to these results, researchers believe, are some of the particulars of the hospital garden used in the study. Built using evidence-based design, the garden is located on the second-floor threshold of the hospital, just steps from the ICU unit - making it easily accessible. It is open to all and includes areas for people to gather - or to spend time alone - surrounded by abundant vegetation and colorful flowers.

The authors pointed to multiple key takeaways of the study for hospitals. For instance, when planning to incorporate gardens into larger hospitals, multiple, modestly-sized and priced garden spaces situated close to the targeted populations potentially should be prioritized over one or two more costly gardens located further from the intended users.

The study, supported by funding from the TKF Foundation / Nature Sacred, was published in the August issue of Health Environments Research & Design Journal.