Effective Lighting Design Standards Impacting Patient Care: A Systems Approach

Sameer Mehrotra, Sunil Basukala^*, Shiva Devarakonda

Department of Hospital Administration, Armed Forces Medical College (AFMC), Pune, Maharashtra.

DOI: 10.4236/jbm.2015.311006                

Abstract

Background: Most healthcare settings are lit by a combination of daylight entering through windows, skylights and electric-light sources. It is important to understand how these two types of light sources differ to understand their relative impacts on human health and performance. It is found important to have a starting point in healing architecture and create an environment with knowledge of users sensory and functionally needs and looks at how hospital wards can support patients’ experience or maybe even have a positive influence on the recovery process. Methods: A systematic review of the literature to evaluate the impact of light on the quality of healthcare services was conducted. Several databases were systematically searched and evaluated. Results: Majority of the studies showed that distributions of light within a space in hospitals could substantially influence the health as well as perception of people within it. The study showed that in a multi-function and diverse habitant environment such as hospital treatment rooms, lighting system design plays a major role for comfort of the patients, the critical visual requirements for hospital staff, the comfort and visual need of the visitors. In addition to these goals, energy cost savings through the careful design of lighting schemes used in such applications. Conclusions: There is consistent evidence that shows the technical, architectural and energy aspects of providing optimal lighting conditions in different areas of a healthcare facility are important for patient, staff and energy conservation and cost within the hospitals.

Keywords

Hospital Lighting, LED, Energy Saving, Circadian Rhythm

Conflicts of Interest

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

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