Wood interiors may provide health benefits in hospitals. A study examined the effects of wood, nature elements, and artwork in patient rooms. Focus groups found preferences for material variety and contrasts. An online survey showed intermediate wood use was most liked in patient rooms. A hospital study found no significant differences between rooms with paintings, nature, or wood on patient outcomes like pain or stress. More research is needed on how nature benefits health in different contexts.

1. Health benefits from wood
interiors in hospitals
Forest Products Society 65th International Convention
Anders Q. Nyrud
Norwegian Institute of Wood Technolohy
Tina Bringslimark
Norwegian University of Life Sciences
Norsk Treteknisk Institutt, www.treteknisk.no

2. Introduction
Finland
Sweden
Wood is: Canada
Austria
• A natural building material Norway
USA
Chile
• Used in many cultures Germany
Australia
UK
Spain
The Nederlands
Research project: France
Italy
Beneficial effects of Japan
Malaysia
interior wood use Brazil
Russia
South Africa
China
India
0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1.0 1.2 1.4
cubic metrers/capita
Apparent consumption of sawn wood
and wood based panels, 2005

3. Raulandstua ca 1300 Systemhus 2010

4. Background
Psychological Effects of Wood Used in the Indoor
Settings
• Beneficial psychological effects

5. How does nature and nature
elements affect us?
Nature
• Wilderness, natural
landscapes, parks,
gardens
• Elements of nature in
built settings, window
views to nature
Beneficial effect
• Stress-reduction
• More positive feelings
• Faster mental recovery
• Decline in subjective
feelings of pain

6. Preferences: What we like
may be good for us
• Preference studies represent an early
empirical approach to the study of the
human-nature relationship.
• Many of these studies assumed that what
people like in environments reflect on
conditions important for health and well-
being.
• In general people prefer natural settings
over urban settings, and settings with
some elements of nature are preferred over
settings without nature elements.

7. Roger S. Ulrich, 1984

8. Three studies
Focus groups
• How do people view building materials and
perceive indoor environments?
Web-survey
• Preferences for wood in patient rooms
Material use in hospitals
• How elements of nature affect patients

9. Focus Groups
Topic: Building materials and the experience of
indoor environment
• Focus group analysis (structured discussion
within a group of people)
• Commonly used in sociology and marketing
• Testing of concepts, experiences and attitudes
• Conducted in cooperation with Statistics
Norway

10. Results
• Variation and contrasts in material perceived
as positive
• Material combinations should ensure variety
(complexity), and constitute a whole
• Desire to personalize the indoor environment
• Durability, hygeiene
• Non-Scandinavians were overwhelmed by the
use of wood: Different opinions on where wood
can be used

11. Web-survey
• 10 data-manipulated pictures of a patient room
with different degrees of wood on a continuum
from no wood to all wood.
• The pictures where shown in a random fashion

12. Measures
• 12 adjectives describing the room: Pleasant,
Nice, Boring, Pure Style, Airy, Masculine,
Expensive, Modern, Ordinary, Natural, Calming
and Secure.
• Three preference questions:
• ”I like the interior in this patient room”
• ”The interior is well suited for a patient room”
• ”I would like to work in this room”

13. Preferences for different degrees of wood in
patient rooms
Rated as most
• Pleasant
• Nice
• Natural
• Calming
• Secure
Rated as least
• Boring
The most preferred room
M=4.16 , SD=1.85
13

14. Preferences for different degrees of wood in
patient rooms
Rated as most:
• Boring
• Ordinary
Rated as least
• Expensive
The second least preferred room
M=3.20*, SD=1.93
*Significant P < .001
14

15. Preferences for different degrees of wood in
patient rooms
Rated as most:
• Masculine
• Expensive
Rated as least:
• Pleasant
• Nice
• Modern
• Ordinary
• Natural
The least preferred room • Calming
M=2.67*, SD=1.81 • Secure
*Significant P < .001
15

16. Results
• Hospital employees prefer patient rooms
with an intermediate level of wood
• The traditional patient room with no
inclusion of wood was the second least
preferred
• The patient room with wood on all the
walls, floor, ceiling and furniture was the
least preferred room
• Building materials can be used to design a
hospital room with an intermediate level of
complexity

17. Nature elements in hospitals
• Study conducted in a Norwegian hospital
• Participants: orthopaedic patients (N=197)
• Outcome measures
• length of hospitalization
• use of painkillers
• blood pressure
• subjective feelings of pain and stress
• emotions before and after operation
• subjective evaluation of room

19. Three room interiors
1. Painting/print
2. Nature
3. Wood
+ window

20. Results
No significant differences
between the rooms

21. Results
What does the results imply?
• Wood vs. nature vs. art vs.
vindow view
The external generalizability:
• Does nature or elements of nature
have health benefits for all people,
at all times, in all settings?
The construct validity:
• How do we measure nature or
nature exposure?

22. Conclusions
Focus groups
• Variation/contrasts in materials is important
• Materials should fit the environment/context
Web survey
• Preference for intermediate use of wood
Patient rooms
• No significant differences for the different rooms
(or window views) on the outcome measures