Lower window sills to allow access to views for bed-bound patients. Use representational art featuring calm, serene subject matter. Researchers are now discovering the scientific facts behind these emotions, using them to help designers create more effective healing environments. Color Color is an essential element of visual stimulation with well-documented psychological and physiological effects. Warm colors, especially when accompanied by high illumination levels, have been found to encourage activity, while cool colors promote more passive behavior.
Color also is vital in setting objects apart from their backgrounds.
Contrasts in hue, brightness and saturation help the human eye define objects by distinguishing shapes and edges. This is an important scientific concept to bear in mind, especially when designing for those with impaired vision. Nursing homes and other facilities for the aging may require special consideration. Many of the elderly have color-related visual problems, among them reduced sensitivity to colors at the blue end of the spectrum and less ability to distinguish between closely related colors. Color Solutions Begin with an appropriate field color and highlight with a variety of schemes.