Patients recovering from illnesses and injuries need a healthy environment where they can feel comfortable and free from stress. Daylighting plays a critical role in patient wellness and psychological health. Whether you’re a healthcare provider, a hospital administrator or an architect designing a healthcare facility, it’s vitally important that you provide a healthy environment, including ample daylighting, for your patients.
Benefits of Daylighting in Health Care Facilities
Daylighting has many benefits in hospitals, medical facilities, and assisted living facilities. Windows are so beneficial that building regulations require a window in rooms where patients stay for more than 23 hours.
Benefits of windows in these facilities include reduced lighting and heating costs, improved morale, improved patient happiness, and reduced stress for patients, doctors, and nurses.
Daylighting impacts patient circadian rhythms, which can, in turn, improve quality of life and improve patient health. This can help patients establish a sense of time and place, which can make their recovery less stressful overall. Alzheimer’s patients who are exposed to daylight have improved circadian rhythms and are less likely to experience depression. This improves patient overall health and can reduce the cost of patient care in facilities.
Lighting is also important in assisted living facilities, where cataracts are a common problem among residents. The average 60-year-old needs two to three times the light of a 20-year-old to see properly. A person in their 80’s can need five times the amount of light that a 20-year-old needs in order to see properly. Daylighting can help patients see properly, which can prevent injuries and accidents.
In addition to helping patients see properly, exposure to daylight helps patients produce Vitamin D. Vitamin D is necessary for the absorption of calcium, which can help strengthen the bones and prevent injuries.
Patients experience improved mental health when recovering in daylit post-surgical facilities. The same can be said of ICU patients, who can develop post-operative delirium in stressful environments. Daylit environments can reduce this stress, thus aiding patient recovery. Meanwhile, windowless ICU wards experience twice the rate of post-operative delirium and depression.
Windows provide a psychological escape that decreases stress. Studies show that patients recovering from gallbladder surgery take fewer pain relievers and have fewer complications when they have a landscaped view out their window. Natural light helps create a healing environment that can provide an environment that promotes feelings of calm and peace for patients, visitors, and staff.
Use Skylights to Create a Healing Environment
Skylights help create a healing environment by adding to the natural light in the space. Skylights fill otherwise dark or artificially lit spaces with natural daylighting. VTECH skylights add value to your medical facility by allowing daylight into your space without conflicting with your facility’s climate control. Our skylights use LoĒ³ 366 glass to allow daylight entry into your indoor spaces. This special glass prevents the entry of infrared light, thus lighting the spaces without heating them.
VTECH skylights are made from a rim of Polyurethane and Isocyanate fused together with glass to create a skylight that’s one solid piece. This makes VTECH skylights more durable and capable of withstanding high impacts, pressure from high wind, fire, and water. They’re guaranteed not to leak! Call VTECH Skylights today to learn more about how our skylights can improve patient care at your medical facility.