Through years of studies and trials, researchers have determined a positive correlation between viewing children’s hospital artwork and reducing stress and anxiety. Specifically, nature-inspired or biophilic art with bold colors is preferred by patients and families in healthcare environments.

With thousands of art images to choose from, it is easy to become overwhelmed with finding the right artwork and type of application (printed canvas, wall murals/graphics, etc) for a pediatric environment. We’ve identified 3 takeaways from research to help you select the right children’s hospital artwork for your facility.

1. Children respond positively to images with animals. According to a research study conducted in 2009 in the Health Environments Research & Design Journal Volume 2, Issue 4, “The presence of animals in an image elicited positive responses regardless of whether the animal was the prominent feature in the image” (pages 46-61). Specifically, “across all age groups the images of the deer in the field, the castle with the woods, and fish underwater were rated as the top three images for the emotional selection rating” (Health Environments Research & Design Journal Volume 2, Issue 4, pages 46-61).

2. Bold colors are preferred over pastel colors. “Color was positively referred to when bold, bright colors were present in an image. Blue and green were especially liked” (Health Environments Research & Design Journal Volume 2, Issue 4, pages 46-61).

3. Images that drive association for children create a positive response. “Children would associate an image with a familiar place, person, or activity. Prominent associations ranged from neighborhoods and homes, to family relationships, and character/cartoon associations, such as fish being associated with the animated movie “Finding Nemo.” (Health Environments Research & Design Journal Volume 2, Issue 4, pages 46-61).

 

At Olee Creative, we work with interior designers and architects to create custom large-format artwork, seek and find artwork, wall murals, and acoustical artwork for pediatric healthcare environments. We’ve implemented these 3 takeaways in several projects over the years. Check out a couple of our favorite projects featuring children’s hospital artwork.

 

 

Beacon Children’s Hospital Infusion Suite

This playful room scene was installed in the Children’s Infusion Suite to provide distraction for children while receiving infusion treatments. The Olee Team worked with the hospital leadership and graphic design team to blow up the image to the size needed for printing this large wall mural, and also incorporated the 2D figures into the design, which was challenging. The result is a colorful mural that relieves anxiety and provides distraction from treatment as it becomes interactive for the patients while they seek and find objects in the art.

 

 

Beacon Children’s Hospital Seek and Find Artwork

The Olee Team worked with hospital leadership and interior designer Holly Foley, to create fun, colorful, interactive artwork to help get patients out of bed and engaged. The “Seek and Find” concept is designed to be a sort of scavenger hunt where the PEDS patients are given a card with 6 items for them to “find” hidden in the artwork or the Lexan display boxes. Hundreds of items and images were chosen and there are enough cards for kids to have a different combination for weeks, giving them something to look forward to during a long hospital stay.

 

 

Osceola Regional Med Center PEDS Emergency Department

The Olee Creative team worked with designer Heather Carlson of TMPartners to select a variety of stock vector images that could be inserted into the Lakeside pattern to bring in the natural outdoor beauty of the area as well as to produce a positive distraction for the young patients.

 

 

Ireland RD Contour Cut Graphics

Olee Creative worked with Beacon Medical Group in South Bend, Indiana to design, print, and install a large contour cut printed scene, utilizing bright colors, spring and summer flowers and trees, and whimsical butterflies and dragonflies. One goal of the project was to take emphasis away from the sloped floor that connected two buildings. The result is a cheerful garden walkway that connects the two buildings and creates positive distractions for the patients as they navigate the long hallway.

 

 

Memorial Aquarium Corridor

Prior to installation, this was a very sterile corridor with light colored paint and transom windows that brought a lot of light into the area. Patients were being transported via gurney through this corridor and the hospital wanted to add biophilic artwork to ease anxiety and provide patient comfort. Olee Creative worked with the marketing team and radiology manager to transform this space into an underwater ‘aquarium’ using biophilic interior design as inspiration. The Olee team created a wall mural and wall graphic decals using corporate paint colors to represent an ‘underwater’ world of the ocean and aquariums to transform the space for both patients and staff.

 

 

Contact us to learn more about our capabilities to create beautiful children’s hospital artwork!