Beyond the five senses: A synaesthetic-design approach to humanize healthcare environments

Abstract

Several areas, such as evidence-based healthcare design, salutogenic architecture and environmental psychology, agree with the importance of the built environment (e.g., space, equipment and environmental variables) in the patients’ healing process. Poor quality sensorial stimuli appears to increase psychological distress and, indirectly, be linked to negative implications for patients’ and workers’ health and well-being. These factors have been also associated with poor judgment regarding hospitals’ overall quality, which continue to be perceived as inhuman and stressful places. A systematic literature review on the topic revealed either a gap regarding the consideration of human senses in the design process or a poor understanding of its complexity and richness. This article explores the sensory dimension of healthcare environments, from the synaesthetic design perspective. This approach considers the entire phenomenology of human perception; Specifically, we intend to discuss the potential of sensory interactions between sensations, found to affect the general condition of well-being, for the conceptualization and development of sensory based solutions for healthcare environments. Research issues and challenges in the design of healthcare environments will be highlighted.