Hospital Interior Architecture: Creating Healing Environments for Special Patient Populations.

Malkin J. New York, NY 10003, Van Nostrand Reinhold, 1992, hardbacks, 478 pp, illus, $124.95.

The purpose of this book is to create a much-needed reference for design professionals and health care managers by presenting the finest examples of design found across the nation. One reason that excellence in design is not achieved more often is that most of us have limited exposure and only see a handful of projects.

The author feels that the most successful projects are those in which interior design and architecture reinforce each other (ie, one cannot tell where architecture stops and interior design begins). Many examples shown in the book attest to this fact.

There is an interesting discussion of the need for research to provide designers with scientific evidence to support their selection of color, layout of space, lighting, and other design features. The treatment of psychological considerations is well documented, and extensive references are provided for each chapter.

A chapter on creating a healing environment examines stress and illness, hospital design, and human behavior, as well as the therapeutic potential of the environment. Factors such as noise, art, music, color, and odors are presented.

The book is divided into chapters for diagnostic imaging centers, children's hospitals, cancer centers, critical care, chemical dependency, birthing centers, psychiatric facilities, ambulatory care, rehabilitation, teaching and research facilities, and congregate care. There are specific considerations for each type of facility, with emphasis on psychological factors and design issues.

The chapter on rehabilitation can be very enlightening to the physical therapist. Interior design considerations such as patient room amenities, reality orientation, color and pattern, and psychological factors are presented. Issues such as depression, anger, loss of memory, length of stay, accessibility, safety, visibility, social participation, activities, and storage are reviewed. A presentation of the Easy Street Environment is also featured. The examples of hydrotherapy and treatment areas are upbeat and modem.

There are no detailed drawings of physical therapy departments, but the considerations for other hospital departments are applicable and help the reader appreciate the many factors, both physical and psychological, that should be considered when designing or remodeling a facility.