This report is a record of the 'Exploring the Patient Environment' workshop organised by NHS Estates earlier this year. The workshop brought together leading researchers, healthcare professionals and people involved in the hospital design process, to explore the implications of recent studies on the effects of buildings on health outcomes and to discuss how to develop NHS Estates' strategy for
... [Show full abstract] improving the patient environment. The main speaker was Roger Ulrich, a Professor in the departments of Architecture and Landscape Architecture at Texas A&M University and Director of the University's Centre for Health Systems and Design. He is recognised as a world leader in the field of hospital design and his work has influenced the design of hospitals internationally. His research is the first to document scientifically the stress-reducing and health-related benefits, for hospital patients, of viewing nature. Appendix One of this report contains Professor Ulrich's detailed account of the content of his sessions. Presentations were also made by Professor Bryan Lawson, Dean of the Faculty of Architectural Studies at the University of Sheffield and another of the leaders in architectural psychology, and by Mr Maximo Martinez, Associate and Project Consultant at Space Syntax, a provider of pioneering design advice that takes account of social and operational factors. This report is part of a major project looking at the evidence base. Many of the issues raised require further debate and discussion.
