Scientific research shows that humans regain their strength when they are spending
time in nature. Ulrich, Kaplan & Kaplan, among others, has shown in their research
that nature can reduce stress and decrease the after effects of stress. Lund University
Hospital, USiL, is a big working place and has a large number of patients. To be a
patient often means that you lose control of your daily life which could cause stress.
For the personnel high workload can be a stress factor. With access to a restorative
environment, even for just a brief period of time, stress reducing effects can be
gained. The outdoor environment at the hospital main entrance is functional but
restorative environment is lacking. The purpose of this study was to find out what
the users of the main entrance thought about the area, if there was something they
wanted to change and if there were any difference in perception of the area between
user groups. The method used was a questionnaire in two parts, one part was a
semantic environment description, SMB (Küller, 1991), where the area was
evaluated using 36 adjectives which were divided into 8 factors, which in their turn
were compared and individually evaluated. The other part was open questions where
the participants could tell what they thought about the area and give suggestion of
what the area was missing. The participants were divided into two groups, patient /
relative and personnel, with 20 people in each group. Own observations of the area were also made to get better understanding and context. The result was that the SMB method didn’t show any difference between user groups, except from the originality factor. The open questions showed that the users wanted to change the area but there was a large drop off rate on some questions. The conclusion is that the experience of the area around the ma...
