Study Ascribes Positive Impact to Light
The Center for Health Design published a paper funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and written by Anjali Joseph, the center’s Director of Research, to identify how light impacts health and outcomes in healthcare settings. It found that light is critical for the well-being of staff and patients alike and recommends to include natural light in how facilities are thought out. Its key findings were:
“Light impacts human health and performance by enabling performance of visual
tasks, controlling the body’s circadian system [biological events that repeat themselves at regular intervals], affecting mood and perception, and by enabling critical chemical reactions in the body. Studies show that higher light levels are linked with better performance of complex visual tasks and light requirements increase with age. By controlling the body’s circadian system, light impacts outcomes in healthcare settings by reducing depression among patients, decreasing length of stay in hospitals, improving sleep and circadian rhythm, lessening agitation among dementia patients, easing pain, and improving adjustment to night-shift work among staff. The presence of windows in the workplace and access to daylight have been linked with increased satisfaction with the work environment. Further, exposure to light is critical for vitamin D metabolism in the human body. Light exposure also is used as a treatment for neonatal hyperbilirubinaemia.”
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September 11, 2006 Related topics: Facilities, Quality, Safety, Errors