For ageless times, it was found out how the physical environment influences the aspect of healing in people. In fact, about 2,000 years ago, Galen, who was an ancient Roman physician, noticed the healing power of the environment and thus, turned out to be the one with the highest survival rate of those who treated the gladiators of that time (Rubert, Long, & Hutchinson, 2007, p.27). In the same way, Florence Nightingale was also one of those who focused more on what the environment can contribute to health, and thus became a leader in the improvement of sanitation and ventilation (Rubert, Long, & Hutchinson, 2007, p.27). She mentioned that there is strong connection between a person’s body and the mind. For this, she began experimenting on the effects of color and natural light to a person’s health, and distinguishing the effects of noise to a person’s physical health. This is the healing environment, in which the physical setting has the capacity to support the psychological wellbeing of the patient, and produce positive therapeutic outcome.
There are three components that make up a healing hospital. First, it should have a healing physical environment that should be constructed in a way that would help the patients alleviate from pain and be able to cope with the stresses brought by the illness. This means having a quiet, peaceful environment that would allow the patients to rest and sleep. Second is the integration of work design and technology that would enable the staff to work more efficiently and, at the same time, provide privacy and security for the patients. This includes providing the best apparatus in healthcare, and physicians having access to the test results right from their offices. Third is having a culture of radical loving care, which is the most critical component of all. As Laurie Eberst (n.d.) mentioned in her writing,
It is easy to promote a beautiful building, artwork, gardens and technology. But if a hospital lacks the culture of compassionate care and the people committed to that philosophy, you do not have a Healing Hospital. Instead, you have a pretty hospital. (Eberst, n.d., p.3)
In utilizing the healing approach, it will promote the healing of patients in a more holistic manner and thus, be able to meet not just the physical needs of the patient but also their emotional and spiritual needs. From this, it is evident how strong the connection is between health and spirituality, since it has something to do with serving the whole person—his/her physical, emotional, spiritual, and social aspects. Rachel Naomi Remen explained this well:
Helping, fixing, and serving represent three different ways of seeing life. When you help, you see life as weak. When you fix, you see life as broken. When you serve, you see life as whole. Fixing and helping may be the work of the ego, and service the work of the soul. (Puchalski, 2001, p.352)
However, creating a healing environment may not be very simple. There are some challenges in trying to create one. Among these is the fact that there are different things that patients, and their families, may need or want to have. Physical design and cultural change would depend on their culture, or what things would bring them comfort and peacefulness, especially the patients. There are different things that may cause them to experience stress, such as noise or just the fact that there is someone else inside the room. As Rubert, Long, & Hutchinson (2007) mentioned, “Patients need to feel that they have some sense of control over the environment, so as to reduce their stress” (p.33). By giving them control over things like lighting, sound, privacy, visitation, temperature, or the sound and volume of music, it improves the healing process for patients to be more in one with their surroundings.
References:
Eberst, L. (n.d.). Healing hospital. Retrieved May 19, 2016 from http://www.bestcompaniesaz.com/pdf/HealingHospital.pdf.
Puchalski, C.M. (2001, October). The role of spirituality in health care. Baylor University Medical Center Proceedings, 14(4), 352-357.
Rubert, R., Long, L.D., & Hutchinson, M.L. (2007). Chapter 3: Creating a healing environment in the ICU. In R. Kaplow & S.R. Hardin’s (Eds.), Critical care nursing: Synergy for optimal outcomes (pp.27-40). Sudbury, MA: Jones and Bartlett Publishers. Print.
