H E A L I N G G A R D E N ST H E R O L E O F FA B R I C F O R S H A D E & S E AT I N G

Defining health with this broad definition

encompasses the understanding that there are

many dimensions of wellness—and wellness is

compromised when one or more dimensions is out

of balance. The human connection with nature is a

bond that can foster healing to restore the balance;

early medical practitioners understood this.

In the Middle Ages in Europe, monastery

infirmaries included gardens, often elaborate, to

distract the ill. In the 1800s in both Europe and

America, pavilion-style hospitals were commonly

designed with gardens for the patients to use.

Florence Nightingale, nurse and public health

reformer, wrote in 1898 that patients should

be able to see out of windows from their beds,

“to see sky and sunlight at least, if you can show

them nothing else…I assert [this] to be, if not

of the very first importance for recovery, at

least something very near it.” (Notes on Nursing:

What It Is, and What It Is Not)

Those involved in caring for the sick intuitively

understood that views and access to nature

were therapeutic, even though they did not

understand why.

L E A R N I N G U N I T S

This course is worth 1 Learning Unit/Health Safety

and Welfare Hour in the American Institute of

Architects Continuing Education System. This

course is worth:

• American Institute of Architects - 1 Learning

Unit

• Interior Design Continuing Education Council -

0.1 Continuing Education Unit

• Landscape Architecture Continuing Education

System - 1.0 Professional Development Hour

N AT U R E I S H E A L I N G

The idea of nature as restorative is a concept

that spans cultures and is more than a

thousand years old. Contact with nature has

long been seen as beneficial for health and

well-being. The World Health Organization

formalized a definition of health more than

65 years ago in the Preamble to its

Constitution as, “a complete state of

physical, mental and social well-being,

and not merely the absence of disease

or infirmity.”

Upon completion of this

continuing education unit

course, you will be able to:

• Recall the inception of healing

gardens and the studies that led

to their creation

• List benefits of a healing garden

to patients, families, healthcare

workers, and the environment

• Describe the goals of a successful

healing garden and some of the

garden elements that support

these goals

• Summarize the considerations for

designing shade and seating for

a healing garden

• Identify the fabric selection

considerations for both shade

and seating elements

A D V E R T I S E M E N T

Coraline, an honorable mention

winner in the 2015 Sunbrella Future of

Shade competition, takes inspiration

from sea coral and represents new

thinking on shade designs for healing

gardens and other public spaces.

The ancient concept of nature as healing

diminished as technology propelled medical

advances of the 20th century. Today, backed

by extensive research, healthcare providers

realize anew the important role nature can play

in reducing patient stress, improving health

outcomes and humanizing conditions for

family members and medical staff.

Healing gardens are best designed to improve

mental, physical and social well-being when

they facilitate a sense of control and access to

privacy, encourage social support and exercise

and give users a means to spend time in

nature. Performance fabric shade structures

and seating offer many options in how gardens

are used and the level of privacy they provide.

Group interaction, private conversation or

quiet observation can all be accommodated

in comfort when appropriate fabric shade

structures and seating are selected.

HEALING GARDEN BENEFITS :

MENTAL, PHYSICAL, SOCIAL

There are many ways to use a healing garden that

will benefit a range of physical needs. Wide paths

make room for a person in a wheelchair or walking

with an aide. There can be space to conduct

physical therapy or group exercise. Working in the

garden itself is not only good exercise, but it can

offer soothing reminders of home and make the

unfamiliar surroundings seem less so.

Healing gardens promote social interaction in

small or large groups. They can provide for the

varying interests and abilities of family groups:

children who may want to run and play while

others sit and talk or simply observe. Coworkers

can meet for lunch or retreat to the garden alone

for a quiet break from the stresses of the job.

20TH CENTURY THEORY & DESIGN

The 20th century leaps in medical knowledge

and technology sidelined a connection with

nature. The need to accommodate modern

technologies in healthcare facilities, to

improve efficiency and to prevent infection,

overshadowed the importance of therapeutic

elements such as gardens.

The result was starkly institutional hospitals

that looked like office buildings, exteriors

dominated by parking lots, and interiors

closed off with air conditioning. This design,

combined with an environment in which

patients have little choice or control, led to

a setting that did nothing to calm patients,

reduce stress or meet the emotional needs of

not only patients, but also families and staff.

PAT I E N T- C E N T E R E D D E S I G N

The patient-centered care movement of the

early 1990s began a renewed awareness of

the negative effects of institutional settings.

Economic factors pushed this movement

forward as competition between healthcare

providers grew, and patients had more

choices among hospitals and assisted living

facilities. Healthcare organizations are now

moving toward a holistic approach to treating

the patient, taking the needs of family

members and staff into consideration as well.

The growing body of research on the benefits

of nature to mental, physical and social

well-being has meant that many healthcare

facilities are returning to the concept of

healing gardens, this time with scientific

evidence and understanding of how and

why they are therapeutic.

HEALING GARDEN RESEARCH

Mounting evidence shows that gardens are one

way to measurably reduce stress for patients

in healthcare settings and can benefit family

members and healthcare staff.

In a 1984 study in Science, environmental

psychologist Roger Ulrich was the first to use

modern medical research standards (strict

experimental controls, quantified health

outcomes) to demonstrate that recovery times

shortened with a view of nature. Gallbladder

surgery patients with a view of trees healed on

average a day faster, needed significantly less

pain medication, and had fewer postsurgical

complications than those with a view of a

brick wall.

Even pictures of landscapes can soothe.

Another study by Ulrich at Uppsala University

Hospital in Sweden provided heart surgery

patients with either a simulated window view

showing a photo of a stream or a forest;

abstract paintings; a white panel; or a blank

wall. Patients who viewed the trees or stream

photo needed fewer doses of strong pain

medicine and were significantly less anxious

during the post-operative period than the

other patients.

Since these studies, many more have shown

that exposure to healing gardens reduces

patient levels of pain and stress. This may

in turn boost the immune system and allow

the body and other treatments to help. A

well-designed healing garden can help to

restore the balance of physical, mental and

social well-being, and in this sense it can

facilitate healing in anyone who uses it, not

just patients.

Complete this course,

Healing Gardens: The Role

of Fabric for Shade & Seating,

at sunbrella.com/ceu.

A D V E R T I S E M E N T

Melody of Shadows, an

honorable mention winner in the

competition, transforms musical

notation into shade forms.

2015 Sunbrella Future of Shade

competition winner The Mosque

of Light in Dubai uses fabric to

create an ethereal experience and

provide protection from the sun.

CIRCLE 44