Does a greener hospital mean happier patients?

Alongside the emergency room, urgent care facilities and pharmacies, New Children’s Hospital is placing another priority: a garden, one that will perch 11 stories above downtown Chicago. Natural spaces seem to be popping up in hospitals around the country, whether in grand or understated form. Though there’s not a ton of study on the link between natural spaces and healing, some papers have examined the psychological benefits of the outdoors.

Back in 2002, Roger Ulrich of Texas A & M University argued for the benefits of gardens in hospitals: “The fact that there is limited but growing scientific evidence that viewing
gardens can measurably reduce patient stress and improve health outcomes has been a
key factor in the major resurgence in interest internationally in providing gardens in
hospitals and other healthcare facilities,” Ulrich wrote.

A little goes a long way, too: A 2010 study showed it takes as little as five minutes outdoors to improve self-esteem and a sense of well-being.

Want to see the new hospital gardens take shape? Read “Crown Sky Garden Grows at New Children’s Hospital.”

-- Amina Khan / Los Angeles Times

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