Patient-Centered Care Approach:Strategies for HealingGardens

This article aims to study methodologically hospital buildings and,in particular,the strategies to design a healing garden,considered,nowadays,a key factor in the healthcare structures,based on the new frontiers of patient-centeredness.Changes in medicine,culture and society have necessarily led to a new formulation of the hospital model,based on a patient-care approach,where outdoor spaces can offer both opportunities for meeting and socializing,and opportunities for distraction,not only for patients and family members,but also for caregivers and medical staff.For a patient,visitor,or member of staff,spending long hours in a hospital can be a stressful experience.Nearby access to natural landscape or a garden can enhance people’s ability to deal with stress and so improve health outcomes.The definition of design guidelines to improve and qualify the healing gardens,enhancing their performance,takes into account the fact that the established requirements of medical protocols must be accompanied by those new requirements related to the patient-centerdness.The research of this article attempts,therefore,to explore the use of technology to formulate strategies to design a healing garden,improving,in this way,the overall quality of life in the healthcare structures and promoting the users’well-being.

Therapeutic landscapes and healing gardens： A review of Chinese literature in relation to the studies in western countries

The paper deciphers the Chinese literature to English speaking scholars and bridges the gap between China and the western countries on the topics of therapeutic landscapes and healing gardens. Three parts of contents are included in the paper. Firstly, four schools of theories explaining how and why nature can heal, are introduced based on the studies in western countries with the examination of terminology used. In the second part, 71 publications in Chinese are systematically reviewed, with 19 significant studies analyzed in details, including focus areas, the research method, and major findings. In the final part, Chinese studies are evaluated in relation to the theories in western countries.

Healthy campus by open space design： Approaches and guidelines

This paper examines the architectural and Landscape design strategies and intentions for green, open spaces facilities targeting stress aLLeviation for learning environments such as those of university campuses in a compact urban setting. Literature reviews provide three prevailing perspectives for physical design pedagogical operatives： healing gardens where greenery and plants produce restorative effects; flexible spaces that accommodate functional needs of different activities; and green buildings that incorporate open space as a catalyst for integrated eco-system. Corresponding design approaches （Landscape design, spatial design and green design） are scrutinized by case study. A comparison of two university campuses with different urban contexts is conducted to identify challenges and opportunities for applying these design approaches. For a compact campus, high-dense surroundings may limit the size of an open space and may handicap circulation and accessibility; on the other side, a small open space may provide its users more intimate contact with natural restorative elements and also a more controllable microclimate for physical comfort. A healthy campus should encompass diverse open spaces to satisfy different purposes. Finally, a framework that integrates the three approaches is combined to produce a sustainable design rubric.