Plants promote well-being
If you're sitting near a plant, go up and take a closer look. If you can, run your fingers over its stalk, smell its scent and listen to the sound as you rustle its leaves with your hands.
You’ll probably agree - plants make you feel good. But did you know that the effect goes even further? Studies have shown that plants:
- Are effective in cleaning the air by absorbing toxins
- Can reduce the physical symptoms of stress
- Reduce dust pollution
Our healthcare landscaping portfolio includes:
Interior landscaping is used in the public areas of the Dutch hospital - somewhere for visitors, patients and staff to experience the benefits of being close to vegetation.
Facts about plants in healthcare
In the 1980s, Professor Roger Ulrich and his colleagues in the USA and Sweden showed that hospital patients recovering from major operations suffered fewer post-operative ill effects if they had a view of nature, as opposed to a view of buildings, through their window.
They were discharged from hospital sooner, had fewer post-operative side effects, such as nausea and headaches, needed fewer and weaker painkillers and were less demanding of nursing staff. Further studies, using volunteers and pictures of urban and rural landscapes, confirmed that scenes of nature lower stress levels, facts that have both economic and healthcare implications.
More recently, researchers have studied the effects of interior landscaping. Scientific reports from universities in the US, the UK, Norway, and the Netherlands have concluded that plants reduce stress levels and engender feelings of wellbeing. Indeed, one study showed that hospital staff in a radiography department took fewer days off sick once plants and light displays had been installed.
As a result of this research, modern hospital design often incorporates interior landscaping and views of gardens, providing benefits to patients, carers and visitors.
