Incorporation of Therapeutic Effect of Daylight in the Architectural Design of In-patient Rooms to Reduce Patient Length of Stay (LoS) in Hospitals

The biological need for lighting by an individual differs from the merely visual purpose, such as viewing objects and doing work or movement. A lack of adequate daylight for biological stimulation can lead to health problems, for e.g. imbalanced circadian rhythm. The importance of daylight is vital for hospital patients who are mostly physically and/or psychologically stressed. As, many patients stay indoors for 24 hours, they might be vulnerable to the lack of daylight which is necessary for health reasons. Hence, for hospital patients, daylight can be a strong therapeutic environmental design element to ensure good health and accelerate clinical recovery.

The complex relationship between daylight environment and individuals’ responses are not fully understood. Controversy, results that are debated by the previous researchers, has made the implementation of day-lighting strategies in the architectural design of hospital in-patient rooms critical, mainly for therapeutic purpose. Strong evidence needs to be established that can build confidence to both architects and policy makers to use daylight for therapeutic purpose and integration of therapeutic effect of daylight to in-patient room architecture is necessary as well. This research provided evidence to architects (with examples) for incorporation of therapeutic effect of daylight in the design of in-patient rooms to reduce patient length of stay (LoS) in hospitals.