{"id":7614,"date":"2024-05-30T17:04:43","date_gmt":"2024-05-30T21:04:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.magicmurals.com\/blog\/?p=7614"},"modified":"2024-07-29T15:08:28","modified_gmt":"2024-07-29T19:08:28","slug":"how-hospitals-can-capitalize-on-the-therapeutic-benefits-of-art","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.magicmurals.com\/blog\/how-hospitals-can-capitalize-on-the-therapeutic-benefits-of-art\/","title":{"rendered":"How Hospitals Can Capitalize on the Therapeutic Benefits of Art"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Author\u2019s note:<\/strong> You may be wondering how the challenges hospital staff and administrators face relate to wall murals and the work of an interior design company like Magic Murals. In this article, we consider how the look and feel of the environment inside a hospital relates to staff retention, profitability, and patient outcomes.<\/em><\/p>\n

The chief concern of hospital staff and administrators is ensuring patients receive the highest possible level of care in their healthcare facilities. The clinical competence of the medical providers and the ability to offer the latest technology and equipment are two primary factors essential to providing excellent care. It\u2019s also important to recognize that the ambiance and amenities a hospital offers can greatly affect the experiences of patients and their families.<\/p>\n

This article from Harvard Business Review<\/a> outlines how innovative hospital design increases patient satisfaction, reduces costs, and improves outcomes. Extensive research shows that effective design offers benefits with measurable impact. In one study of many demonstrating positive effects, \u201cas needed\u201d injections of anti-psychotic drugs given in the lounge of an acute psychiatric clinic in the U.S. decreased 70% when posters of realistic nature scenes were added.<\/p>\n <\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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This mural of a coral reef transforms the waiting room at Sarasota Memorial Hospital<\/a>. Accent lighting with a soothing blue glow simulates an aquarium, providing staff and patients with many of the same benefits of live fish for a fraction of the cost. Durable, scratch-resistant, and easy to clean, wall murals are low-maintenance and environmentally friendly.<\/h6> <\/div>\n<\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n
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Evidence-based design offers much more than a pleasing aesthetic<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Dr. Roger Ulrich\u2019s research is widely considered to have sparked the evidence-based design movement that has gradually gained acceptance over the past 40 years. In his 1984 study titled View Through a Window May Influence Recovery from Surgery<\/a>,<\/u> Ulrich found that post-surgery patients with a view of nature needed fewer pain meds and had fewer negative evaluative comments from nurses. They also had shorter hospital stays.<\/p>\n

This landmark research served as a springboard for numerous other scientists to examine elements of the built environment of hospitals and isolate their effects on patient outcomes, staff productivity, and safety in healthcare systems. The validity of evidence-based healthcare design progressed slowly at first. Now that many universities offer graduate degrees in the field, thousands of studies with positive results have been conducted, resulting in a tremendous surge in the implementation of innovative design.<\/p>\n <\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n

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Nonprofit organization<\/strong> RxART<\/strong><\/a> promotes healing by transforming children\u2019s hospital settings.<\/strong><\/h3>\n

RxART exists to help children heal through the extraordinary power of visual art. Located in New York City, their mission is to commission \u201cestablished contemporary artists to transform children\u2019s hospital settings into engaging and uplifting healing environments at no cost to the hospitals<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n

The organization curates work from artists around the world and has completed dozens of projects at hospitals in the U.S. and Canada. Each artist receives an honorarium, the opportunity to create public art with purpose, and the chance to transform the lives of children as they heal.<\/p>\n

Magic Murals fabricates each custom wall mural for RxART\u2019s collaborations with hospitals. For one striking example, see the header image of this blog post for \u201cBefore\u201d and \u201cAfter\u201d photos of Seascape. <\/em>This blue and white work by painter, sculptor, and mixed media artist Rashid Johnson<\/a> graces the MRI suite at the University of Minnesota Masonic Institute for the Developing Brain (MIDB<\/a>). The soothing images help reduce the anxiety pediatric patients often feel when getting an MRI and contribute to creating a welcoming environment. The MRI suite houses MIDB\u2019s Neuroimaging Hub, which is dedicated to a variety of brain research and cutting-edge translational applications for MRI. MIDB is conducting important research in advancing brain health from the earliest stages of development.<\/p>\n <\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Born in 1977 in Chicago, Johnson is one of the most influential visual artists of his generation. In Seascape, a boat with simple lines repeats in a pattern stretching from floor to ceiling. The abstract shapes evoke the gentle rocking of a sea vessel and communicate a sense of calm that transcends cultural boundaries.<\/span><\/p> <\/div>\n<\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n \n

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The family of RxART founder and president Diane Brown wanted her to become a doctor, but she was passionate about art from a young age. She earned a bachelor\u2019s degree in chemistry and biology and worked in cancer and food research. At the earliest opportunity, however, she returned to studying art and art history. Diane founded a gallery in Washington, DC that she ran for 16 years, and she then moved to New York City to open a gallery in Soho. Subsequently, she became the curator of a photography collection for a public company.<\/p>\n

While working as a curator, Diane fell ill and needed a CAT scan. \u201cEverything turned out fine for me, but I was very scared during the procedure. All I had to distract me from my fears was my imagination, and I imagined a painting going across the ceiling. This was so helpful to me that I wanted to provide this for other people.\u201d Diane adds that support and encouragement from philanthropist Agnes\u00a0Gund<\/a> gave her the confidence to move forward immediately, and she founded RxART in 2000.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe artwork installations we coordinate are for facilities that provide pediatric care, which now often includes patients up to 24 years old,\u201d Diane says. \u201cOur goal is for images to appeal to kids and teens, as well as to their adult caregivers.\u201d The new look of the healthcare environments RxART embellishes supports the morale of the clinical care team as well.<\/p>\n

Diane continues: \u201cIt\u2019s now well-documented that providing a pleasant and positively challenging environment has many benefits for patients beyond decreasing anxiety. Appropriate artwork and design can lessen the length of hospital stays and decrease the amount of pain medication people need.\u201d<\/p>\n

She adds that she appreciates how Mike Fleming, CEO of Magic Murals, and the design team print samples so that each artist RxART commissions can ensure that all colors are reproducing correctly before the mural is produced. \u201cMike is great at working with the artists,\u201d Diane says. \u201cHe and his team make sure all artwork is scaled correctly and has the right resolution. Our standards are extremely high for the quality of the printing.\u201d<\/p>\n

Fabricating a mural for a single flat wall is literally a big job. Installation is typically a snap in a residential<\/a> setting, but healthcare environments can be tricky. \u201cYou can imagine how many seams and corners there are to take into consideration in a diagnostic room. All the panels must match up perfectly,\u201d Diane says.<\/p>\n

When wall murals are fabricated correctly the first time, this helps minimize disruptions to patients and staff.\u00a0 \u201c<\/strong>Mike is an awesome partner,\u201d Diane says. \u201cHe really gets it. He\u2019s just been a dream to work with.\u201d<\/p> <\/div>\n<\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n

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Magic Murals is proud to support the efforts of RxART and work with the acclaimed artists they commission for mural installations in hospitals.<\/strong><\/h3>\n

RxART worked with painter Ann Craven<\/a> on an art installation for the Nappi Wellness Institute at SUNY Upstate<\/a> in Syracuse, NY. Magic Murals fabricated murals of the artist\u2019s playful, eye-catching images of birds that transform the Institute\u2019s family medicine department. The Nappi Wellness Institute is an innovative, five-floor, 200,000-square-foot outpatient facility designed to facilitate the collaborative provision of healthcare, social, and behavioral services under one roof. It is the first WELL-Certified building in Central New York and among the first hospitals of this type in the nation.<\/p>\n <\/div>\n<\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n

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\n Craven\u2019s work faces the reception and waiting area at Nappi Wellness Institute, which receives approximately 54,000 annual visits. <\/div>\n \n <\/div>\n \n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n
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When young patients are faced with surgery and uncertainty about their health, a little levity can go a long way to helping the entire family keep their spirits up. The installation of Trees for Children<\/em> by Nicolas Party<\/a> at Children\u2019s Hospital Los Angeles (CHLA<\/a>) was completed in 2021. Party created a mural for the 207-foot corridor leading to CHLA\u2019s Operating Department that is constantly traveled, as the hospital provides nearly 16,500 surgeries a year. CHLA is a children’s general medical and surgical facility that ranks nationally in 10 pediatric specialties. It is routinely among the top U.S. pediatric hospitals for National Institutes of Health (NIH<\/a>) grant funding.<\/p> <\/div>\n<\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n

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Contrast the ominous, alienating feel of the hospital corridor with blank walls with the cheerful ambiance created once murals of Nicolas Party\u2019s whimsical work crown the space.<\/h4> <\/div>\n<\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n
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Recognition of the therapeutic value of art has deep roots in human history.<\/span><\/h3>\n

Data from hundreds of studies conducted over the past 40 years support the idea that art can promote healing, but it\u2019s not a new concept. The origins<\/a> of the use of the arts in health can be traced to artifacts dating back circa 40,000 years. Early humans used the arts in healing rituals and incorporated them into their medical theories.<\/p>\n

Fast forward to the 19th<\/sup> century and the emergence of modern Western medicine due to scientific research and technical innovation. Florence Nightingale, the founder of modern nursing, penned these words in 1859: \u201cThe effect in sickness of beautiful objects, of variety of objects, and especially of brilliancy of colors is hardly at all appreciated\u2026. People say the effect is only on the mind. It is no such thing. The effect is on the body, too. Little as we know about the way in which we are affected by form, by color, and light, we do know this, that they have an actual physical effect. Variety of form and brilliancy of color in the objects presented to patients are actual means of recovery.\u201d<\/p>\n

There are limitless ways hospitals<\/a> can add form and color to sterile, utilitarian surroundings to help patients feel more relaxed and potentially improve outcomes. Most of us feel anxious when faced with a medical test or procedure, and wall murals like this tropical<\/a> scene at Medical City North Hills provide a distraction and help patients imagine they\u2019re somewhere else.<\/p>\n <\/div>\n<\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n

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\n A vibrant island paradise mural beautifies the wall of this MRI room at North Hills, an award-winning hospital in North Richland Hills, TX. <\/div>\n \n <\/div>\n \n <\/div>\n\n
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Magic Murals works with healthcare facilities all over the world to improve their interiors, but one client close to home is UNC Health Johnston. <\/a>Our design team provided their Cardiopulmonary Rehabilitation Center with images<\/a> that make going to rehab feel more like a trip to an upscale health club.<\/p>\n <\/div>\n<\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n

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Murals and wall art of motivational sayings and scenes of the great outdoors<\/a> help motivate patients at the rehab center to reach their goals. The d\u00e9cor also features an interactive element. A mural of a tree by the water\u2019s edge is covered with dry erase laminate so patients can express their thoughts about their treatment journey.<\/p>\n <\/div>\n<\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n

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