Gardens in Healthcare Facilities: Uses, Therapeutic Benefits, and Design Recommendations

This study was conducted between January and August 1995, and its goal was to investigate the use and possible benefits of gardens in hospitals by evaluating a number of case studies. Its intent was not to propose theories of how or why certain environments are therapeutic, but to discover which specific elements and qualities in hospital gardens seem to be — in the users’ eyes — most related to a change of mood.

This report consists of 12 parts: introduction; literature review; methods; brief historical overview of hospital gardens; a typology of health facility outdoor spaces; four case studies including user-responses; a set of design recommendations based on observations and interviews; and a conclusion.